Family Problems
by Satol
Summary: Morning of a particular Monday found Tsunayoshi Sawada banging earnestly on the door of a traditional Japanese-styled home. "Hibari-san! Hibari-san!" he called, repeating the name over and over again. AU
1. Feuding Family

Morning of a particular Monday found Tsunayoshi Sawada banging earnestly on the door of a traditional Japanese-styled home. "Hibari-san! Hibari-san!" he called, repeating the name over and over again. "We're going to be late!"

Suddenly, the door slid open, leaving only the screen between the occupant and guest. "Tsunayoshi Sawada?" the black-haired figure blinked at the brunet, still dressed in pajamas. "Late for what?"

"Late for school!" Tsuna nearly yelled, obviously pumped with far too much adrenaline. He turned to run off toward the Elementary School building in the distance. "You of all people should kno-"

"Wait." The screen door had slid open, and the taller raven had grabbed Tsuna by the back of his white shirt. "You're right," he said, stopping the other boy from speeding away. "I of all people should know that there's no school today."

Immediately, Tsuna's weak struggles against the strong grip on his shirt stopped short. "It's a free day?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes. I thought everyone knew we were on a break week on account of the fire in the science room."

"Hibari-san," Tsuna pouted, turning his neck to look at the older boy. "'Everyone' never includes me. And besides, I asked some of my classmates if we were having a break because of it, and they said that the students doing badly had to come anyway."

"Because I'm obviously a student doing badly in my studies," Hibari snorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"N- no! B- but you're always there anyways, and and and I don't want to go to school alone!"

Hibari blinked in surprise at the young boy still caught in his grip. "Doesn't that one boy live near you? The one in the baseball club that's always sleeping in class."

Tsuna gave him a pleading look. "B- but Yamamoto-kun's one of the _cool_ kids! I'm sure _he's_ fine with it, b- but if other people find out that I'm walking to school with him, I'll be jumped for sure!"

He received a skeptical glance in return. "You know you're _ten_... and this is my problem how?"

Without warning, another face appeared in the doorway, seemingly out of nowhere. It was similar to Hibari's (almost an exact likeness, in fact, with the addition of a long, braided ponytail), but had a kind smile on the adult features. "Kyouya?" the newcomer asked. "Who's this? Both of you should come inside; you'll get burnt from standing right outside the porch."

"Wao... visitors?" Another voice, a bit deeper than Hibari's, made itself heard, as another head poked out from the other side of the door. By the collar surrounding the neck, he appeared to be wearing a black yukata. Tsuna squeaked in surprise; this next man looked like an older version of his 11-year old acquaintance ("friend" could never, _ever_ cover this type of relationship), only with messier hair and a longer face. Not to mention, had these people just been _hiding_ there the entire time? "I'm surprised," the older Hibari smirked, "I always thought no one knew where our house was."

"E- eh?" Tsuna stuttered, bewildered. "U- um... it was in the yellow pages for some reason... I was looking through it one time and thought I should write it down somewhere for future reference... H- Hibari-san?"

"Hn?"

"Yes?"

"What?"

"The heck-"

Tsuna squeaked again at the sudden response of four voices. Wait, four...?

"- is going on out here?" a slightly irate voice continued. Still being held by the back of his vest, Tsuna watched as _yet another_ person who looked like Hibari (except that his eyes were a gray-blue shade, while his hair was a dusty white-blond) emerged. He was wearing a yukata, dark forest green to the older Hibari's black, and was carrying a book wrapped in the brown paper cover of a bookstore.

"You two need to stop following me around," Hibari gritted, jabbing fingers toward the first two figures. "And you stay out of this," he growled next, glaring daggers at the third.

"What, I'm not allowed to know when my son has friends over?" the first figure asked cheerfully.

Simultaneously, the second gave another smirk. "Because I'm really going to listen to you," he jeered.

With a wordless roaring noise, Hibari let go of his prey (if that was the right word to use) and leapt forward in a whirl of black and silver. The first figure ducked underneath the flying boy, and scooted out the door and closer to Tsuna.

"I'm very sorry about this first impression," he said, still smiling. "Our family has... problems." Seemingly without thinking, he moved backwards as a steel tonfa whirled past the spot where his head was just an instant ago. "As you can probably see," he continued, stepping back into his previous spot without missing a beat, nor the smile on his face.

Tearing his eyes away from the older male after a slight nod, Tsuna looked to the fight between the two other black-haired individuals. The older Hibari also appeared to be a tonfa- wielder, judging by the scene. He had some how managed to stick one down the back of the younger's shirt, and was suspending him by the handle of the metal rod. The latter, in turn, seemed to be attempting to claw at him with his bare hands, one tonfa clattering to the ground while the other most likely had just missed hitting the man who claimed to be his father in the head.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said man almost squeaked, remembering something important. "I never did a proper introduction of myself. My name is Fong. And you are...?" He bowed, both hands in front of his chest, right fist resting in the left palm, which looked oddly natural in the rich red and snow-white Chinese-styled garb he wore. Although, that didn't mean that it fit with the Japanese-styled house (which it didn't _not_ fit, in some odd, inexplicable way), nor the more modern appearance of the neighborhood (which just plain didn't fit).

"U- uh, hello..." Tsuna said, in an awkward, nervous voice. "M- my name is Tsunayoshi Sawada... B- but please call me Tsuna."

"Oh!" Fong answered happily, tucking his hands into his wide sleeves. "Well, welcome, Sawada-san. I'm glad that Kyouya's finally making friends."

"He is not my friend."

"I don't think he considers me his friend."

The older Hibari's smirk grew wider at the two simultaneous comments. "What, if he's not your friend, then is he your boyfriend or something? Kyouya~," he jeered again, drawing out Hibari's name mockingly.

Hibari, in turn, made his clawing attempts fiercer and faster, hissing angrily like a cat, his cheeks dusted a light red from the exertion.

"All of you, shut up _right now,_" a commanding voice intruded through the early morning chaos. Immediately, all motion stopped, and every head turned to look at the blond man, who seemed to be hard put not to destroy the entire house right there, with everyone in it. "Kyo, put your brother down. Fong, go check the stove to make sure nothing's burning. Kyouya, this is _your_ guest, _you're_ looking after him. Go get dressed first. Same for you, Kyo; and absolutely no making fun of either of them. You all have ten seconds. Go!"

The blond man moved away from the door, and all three of the others began a mad scramble to get away. Fong ran toward the gate to scoop up Hibari's fallen weapon, before scurrying inside. The one called Kyo dropped the boy unceremoniously upon the hard tiled floor of the doorway, before seeming to suddenly disappear to the sound of bare feet heading up a flight of wooden stairs. He, however, seemed to hardly notice, as he grabbed the tonfa on the ground, accepted the one that Fong passed to him on the way to the kitchen, and scrambled to his feet to fly up the stairs after his brother.

"Huh, eight seconds. Not bad," the blond man commented to no one in particular, leaning against the wall, as he watched the hallway empty quickly. "But they can do better. Oh, and you."

Tsuna perked up, surprised, before pointing nervously to himself. "M- me?" he stuttered.

The man frowned a bit. "No, not you, that yellow bird upstairs," he replied sarcastically. "Yes, you. What's your name?"

"Tsu- Tsunayoshi... Sawada," Tsuna answered, trying not to tremble beneath the ice-cold gaze. "B- But Tsuna is fine."

"I see," the blond replied. "My name is Alaude. I suppose I'm the 'father figure' of this Family. Welcome, I guess; seeing as you're here for a reason that has become obsolete, you might as well stay. Come in."

Tsuna was about to retort that he didn't want to impose, but one look into the cobalt eyes and he shut his mouth. "Th- thank you," he managed to squeak out, following inside. Slipping his sneakers off, he placed them to the side, next to a larger pair, which he recognized as the clean white sneakers with navy soles that Hibari wore out of school (having run into him several times during grocery shopping, and having the _privilege_ of seeing those shoes right next to his face [or in it], it wasn't too hard to learn what they looked like; not to mention, they were similar to his school shoes anyway). Alaude waited semi-patiently for the brunet to get his shoes off, before heading down the hallway into the kitchen / living room area.

When Tsuna stepped through the door, the unmistakable scents of miso soup and eggs met his nose. "Oh, are you staying, Sawada-san?" Fong called cheerfully, "That's good. Have you eaten breakfast?"

"U- um... I left in a hurry, but uh... I had a slice of toast... er..." Tsuna stammered, trying to resist anything that could be possibly offered.

"That's not nearly enough to eat in the morning. Come sit down and eat," Fong stated, with a hint of commanding underlying the kind statement. Tsuna didn't dare say no; after all, this person dealt with Hibari everyday... surely he was not to be crossed when he gave an order. Mumbling thanks, Tsuna sat down at the corner as far away as possible.

Fong placed a plate and chopsticks in front of him, before putting out four others. Then he went back to get the miso soup and rice. Alaude had vanished sometime during the short conversation.

Before long, Kyo padded into the room, raking a hand through his scruffy hair. He was dressed in a lavender t-shirt and dark gray pants (how he wasn't on fire under those dark colors in the early autumn heat, Tsuna wasn't too sure). Taking the seat across from Tsuna, he blinked. "You're still here?" he commented, stating more than asking. "This is certainly a first-time occurrence." Discontinuing the conversation, he picked up the bowl of miso soup, and began eating.

Next to come out was Hibari. Wearing a light gray t-shirt and black rolled up cargo pants, Tsuna couldn't help but notice how nice he looked in normal clothes. Not that the white t-shirt and black shorts that he was usually wearing for school weren't flattering, this was just... different. In a good way. Hardly glancing at the herbivore, he took the seat next to him anyway. Grunting in response to the younger brunet's "I hope you don't mind if I stay…," he picked up his rice, and dug in hungrily.

Fong arrived next, handing out cups of cold barley tea from a tray. He leaned the lacquered wooden object on the side of the chair before sitting down, and smiled at how quiet the table was before picking a slice off of his egg bake.

Last to come in was Alaude. Wearing... a gray trench coat. What. "U- um... Alaude-san..." Tsuna mumbled nervously.

"Hmm?" Instead of turning his head, Alaude merely pointed his gaze toward the shortest member at the table.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable under the scrutinizing stare, Tsuna squirmed on the inside, but forced himself to sit still. "Isn't… aren't you hot in that coat?"

"No." Closing his eyes to signify the conversation finished, Alaude returned to eating in silence. However, he took a pause, then made some kind of gesture towards Hibari.

The one in question pulled a face, but seemed to understand. He tugged sharply on Tsuna's shirt (  
"Ow! What was that for, Hibari-san?"), to gain his attention. At the mention of their surname, three more heads turned.

"What?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Hm?"

"Kyouya."

Both Tsuna and the one "Hibari-san" he was speaking to turned to face the last comment. "You should call him Kyouya," Fong repeated, still smiling. "That way, we won't get mixed up. Although Kyo is also Kyouya... but call him Kyo."

"Or maybe you should call him Kyou-chan," Kyo interrupted.

Again with the wordless roaring noise. Except this time, it was accompanied by a shout of "Fight me!" Darting up from his chair, Hiba- Kyouya made to run around the table to tackle his brother. However, when he got past Alaude, his right arm seemed to suddenly shoot out behind him, and he lost his footing, feet slipping out from under him as he fell to the ground with a large _thud_.

"No fighting during breakfast," Alaude said, looking down at his book (Fong gave a sigh and commented on how Alaude could stop reading at the table). He held his left arm up, revealing one end of a pair of handcuffs fastened there, the chain leading straight down. "And Kyo, I said no making fun of them. Listen this time or I _will_ arrest you."

On the floor, Kyouya growled and writhed, still intent on battling his older sibling. Tsuna could only gape helplessly in confusion. Alaude hadn't even moved; when had he caught Kyouya-san's hand in that? "Hiba- Kyouya-san…" he managed to stutter, "A- are you alright…?"

"He's not, I am," Kyo replied, smirking. "Hey, you. Tsunayoshi, was it? Since you two don't claim to be friends, what exactly would you consider your relationship with Kyouya?" Obviously, he was implying something (it was also clear what), but Alaude seemed to let it slide on account that it wasn't bluntly stated. That, and he was apparently still hungry. Although Fong elbowed the eldest son roughly and inconspicuously under the table, still smiling, albeit with a slightly strained look.

"A- Acquaintances?" Tsuna tested, feeling nervous.

"Hmm, well, I mean more specific than that. Obviously you're acquainted if you know each other's names."

"S- sorry. Um... I don't really know... Kyouya-san's the only one who doesn't hate me?"

"No, I hate you," Kyouya interjected, still wriggling on the floor, the short chain between the handcuffs restricting his ability in the simple action getting up off the ground.

"Uh, s- sorry… well… what I mean is, Kyouya-san's the only one who doesn't hate me significantly more than others. Hating people is just the way he is, but he doesn't pick on me specifically like everyone else… I guess…?" At the end of the small monologue, Tsuna's voice trailed off uncertainly, wondering how this description would be taken.

The answer: surprisingly well. Alaude gave the smallest, quietest, amused "pffffft" sound that the brunet had ever heard (actually, in retrospect, he wasn't quite sure whether it was the description of his son or something in his literature that caused it). Fong smiled again, looking genuinely happy this time. One corner of Kyo's lips upturned a bit, and he leaned back in his chair, seeming satisfied, an action that Tsuna interpreted as, "Well, what do you know, my kid brother really _does_ know what friendship is." On Kyouya's face, his thin eyes widened in shock, and he stopped writhing.

The sudden silence descended like a weight, causing Tsuna to once again wriggle in nervousness (though this time, he showed it clearly). The one who broke it was Alaude, his shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter. Fong stifled a quiet giggle with his sleeve, and Kyo just continued smirking. "Wh- what?" Tsuna managed to gasp out, startled by the reactions.

"First time that I've heard anything other than complaints about Kyouya," Alaude commented, smirking, and bookmarked his page before closing it. "Nor for the rest of us."

There followed two clicking sounds, and Alaude continued. "Get up. Say what you were going to tell him before Kyo interrupted."

Obviously unhappy about having been trapped lamely on the floor for so long, but seeming to at least appreciate, or maybe acknowledge, the (relatively) positive comment from Tsuna, Kyouya got up and plonked back into his seat. Sighing, he pointed with his chopsticks at the figures about the table. "Kyo, my brother."

"A formal introduction for once. Wonderful."

"Fong, my father."

"Pleased to meet you. And in terms of position, more like a mother, I'd have to say."

"And Alaude, my other father."

"Hn."

Nodding to the introductions, Tsuna looked to Kyouya. He had already began eating again, and the brunet was slightly surprised at how this entire family switched gears at the drop of a hat. One minute they'd be trying to kill each other, the next they'd be peaceful, then they would get at each others throats again.

A small yellow bird flew in through the window. "Hibari! Hibari!" it chirruped, landing softly on top of Kyouya's hair. With a small "Hn?" he looked up, engaging in a staring contest with the bird, now leaning forward to see eye-to-eye. "Escape! Escape!" it chirped, resigning to nestling comfortably among the black strands.

"I told you to stop bringing animals home," Alaude interjected, back to reading his book.

Kyouya's lips formed a small frown. "They followed me home."

"Whatever. Just go find them."

Sighing, Kyouya swallowed the last of his meal, and stood up. "You're coming with me," he growled, tugging on Tsuna's shirt sleeve.

"Eh? Um, okay," was the only thing he was able to say in reply. Feeling foolish, he got up, having finished quickly (he was used to having to scarf before running to school), and followed Kyouya. The raven, bird still nesting in his hair, headed up the narrow wooden steps to the second floor.

Once there, the leader headed through a door on the left of the hallway. It was a large bedroom of sorts, with two similar (if mirrored) halves, divided through the center by tracks running through the ceiling and floor. "My side," Kyouya said, noticing Tsuna's puzzled look, and pointing at the floor on the right side of the track, then the left, "His side."

"Oh," Tsuna replied, realizing that "his" probably referred to Kyo.

"We split the room, because we didn't like having to be crowded into the same space."

_He talks like they aren't related!_ Tsuna's mind screamed, but he quickly brushed it off. "Th- then, what are the tracks for?"

Wordlessly crossing to a very, very thin closet door, Kyouya opened it, and rolled several wall sections out. They followed the track without a single squeak on the tiny wheels, and after rolling out four or five, he stopped. There was now a partial wall between the two sections, with the portion closest to the door empty. "My side," Kyouya restated, pointing to the desk that sat in the corner.

"And this one's my side," Kyo said, standing in it, letting the door swing shut. "Now, if you're done, I would _like_ to get some work done today." Disappearing behind the wall, he was lost to sight.

"They're not in here," Kyouya commented, frowning. He opened a window, and the bird flew out of it readily.

"U- um, Kyouya-san," Tsuna said, interruping the senior boy's train of thought. "Who's not here?"

"Roll and the others."

"…eh?"

Kyouya sighed. "Roll, Barinezumi and Kyoushintai¹ are hedgehogs that live here, as does Hibird," he said. "And the likelihood that some other animal is also here isn't very low."

_What kind of names are those?_ Tsuna's mind itched to ask. _They sound so… odd!_

"_Anyway,"_ Hibari continued, "Help me find them." He began searching under the desk for the hedgehogs, and Tsuna, likewise, opened the closet door.

"By the way, Kyouya-san," he asked, standing on the tips of his toes and on a stool to see above the upper shelves. "There's no bed in here, where do you sleep?"

"Downstairs," the raven replied, now searching behind the small bookshelf. "These upstairs rooms are mostly for the privacy that we all require. Looks like they're not here; we'll have to search elsewhere."

As he lead the way out of the room, Tsuna obediently followed. "Owch!" he yelped, suddenly feeling something prick his sock-clad foot. Kyouya turned about expectantly, but was disappointed to see Tsuna hopping about, clutching his foot, while a pinecone lay on the floor. What was that doing there, anyway?

Dismissing the thought, Kyouya continued to drag the poor boy to the next room. "They won't be in Alaude or Fong's room," he muttered to himself as he walked. "Maybe the storeroom?" Turning, he headed through the short curtains in the doorway of a dusty, shelved room.

Letting go of Tsuna's hand, Kyouya began searching among the shelves. "You go search downstairs," he said, peeking between two boxes. "I'm going to assume that you're competent enough to not die."

Insisting that he would be fine, Tsuna slunk back into the hallway.

And promptly fell down the stairs to the first floor. Ordinarily, he would have lain there for a bit, contemplating how foolish he was. However, not wanting to be found slacking on the search, he jumped up and darted to the nearest open door.

Alaude was sitting at a low table (most likely a kotatsu without the blanket), reading over what looked like a report, judging by the neat stack of loose sheets in front of him. "U- um, Alaude-san," Tsuna squeaked, wary of interrupting the older man's reading.

"Hn?" Said older man looked up, and stared at Tsuna with his blue eyes. "Did you need something?"

"A- actually, I was wondering if you had seen any of Kyouya-san's… animals… in here."

"Ah, those." Placing the few papers he held onto the table top, Alaude reached under the table. "Can't say I have, but this cat came in earlier. Might as well take her." What he brought out was a tan-furred kitten, with dark red eyes. She looked slightly irate, but seemed passive enough. The leopard-like patches across her forehead and back were visible as she yawned, having probably been sleeping underneath the table before Alaude picked her up by the neck scruff. He held her out, still watching Tsuna intently, "Here."

Mumbling his thanks, Tsuna held the kitten with both hands. She flicked her tail in annoyance a bit at being forcibly removed from her napping spot, but nestled into the warm arms nonetheless. As Tsuna returned to the hallway, Alaude resumed his reading.

"Oi, herbivore."

Squeaking in shock, Tsuna turned at the voice. Of course, it was Kyouya. With a hedgehog on both shoulders and one on top of his head. "I found all of the- why are you carrying a cat?" he continued. "And when did Hibird decide he liked your head?"

"…Eh?" Tsuna reached a hand up (the kitten hissed at the lost warmth), and encountered something fluffy. Taking it down again, he was faced with the yellow bird from earlier, perched cutely on his finger. The boy smiled a bit. "Alaude said that this cat came in and was sleeping under the table… and I don't know when Hibird got here. Anyway, Kyouya-san, where were the he- Kyouya-san! What happened to your _hand?_"

Kyouya looked down at his left hand, now dripping crimson liquid onto the floor. "What, this?" he asked, unconcerned at the blood loss. "Nothing serious."

"Kyouya-san!" Tsuna squirmed, feeling queasy looking at it. "There's a centimeter-long hole in your hand! How isn't it serious?"

Kyouya shrugged. "Barinezumi has trouble remembering how long the spike closest to his head is. It happens."

"B- But, shouldn't you at least get that bandaged?"

"Sawada-san's right, you know," Fong said, suddenly appearing behind Tsuna (who, needless to say, suffered a bit of a panic attack). "That's worse than usual."

"You mean this happens often?" Tsuna nearly shrieked, suddenly quite a bit more afraid of the older boy than before.

"I told you," Kyouya sighed. "It happens."

"Anyway," Fong said, "Bandages. Don't pout, Kyouya, I absolutely refuse to have you bleeding all over the house."

Tsuna's face darkened. _So… is he concerned for Kyouya-san's health or the cleanliness of the place?,_ he wondered half-heartedly. In the end, Kyouya was left with no choice but to allow Fong to treat the wound. The two boys left the room, one sporting a white bandage wrapped about his left hand, part of the palm already beginning to stain pink with the blood he was losing.

"I- I should get going, Kyouya-san," Tsuna stuttered, heading down the hallway.

"Hn."

Most of the residents joined the two at the porch to say goodbye to their first ever guest (who most likely would not be coming back anytime soon). Alaude, however, detached himself and watched from the upstairs window.

"See you, Tsunayoshi Sawada," Kyo grinned, leaning against one of the wooden banisters. "Remember, there's no school tomorrow either for you."

Fong was a bit more uplifting. "I do hope you'll come again," he said, waving, "You're such kind company."

"Th- Thank you," Tsuna mumbled. "U- uh… see you… sometime later, Kyouya-san. And thank you, Alaude-san!"

"Whatever," the blond called from the upper window, "I'll be sure to remember your name."

"Fight me!" Kyouya called upwards, ignoring the departing guest.

"I have no interest in fighting children."

"You should go throw grass at the neighbor's window," Kyo teased.

Kyouya roared, and leapt at his brother. The sounds of colliding metal filled the air, as Fong continued waving. Alaude yawned, uninterested.

Amid the chaos, Tsuna slipped away, fully intent on lazing the afternoon away on his bed. Coming back was _not_ likely to happen again.

* * *

_Just in case any of you were wondering, I've added a footnote for the hedgehogs. I'm very delighted that you read this far, and if there are any questions, feel free to ask. Please, _please_ don't take what 10Hibari (Kyo) is saying too seriously; I mainly changed his personality to be more teasing as a reason to have him in there. I'm sure he doesn't _actually_ think that his brother has a boyfriend._

_¹- Roll is the name of the Vongola Cloud Hedgehog. Barinezumi, a portmanteau of "Hibari" and "Harinezumi" (hedgehog), is the name that both Kusakabe and Gokudera use to refer to any of the Cloud Hedgehogs. Kyoushintai is a name that I made up myself, a portmanteau of "Kyouya," Hibari's first name, and "Kyuushintai," meaning Needle Sphere. The reason for both Barinezumi and Kyoushintai appearing, is because Hibari owns at least two regular Cloud Hedgehogs, as seen during Tsuna's training and the Millefiore ambush. Very lame name, I know, but I figured, Hibird, Barinezumi, might as well make another portmanteau._

_I've also included an omake, something that was in my head from close to the beginning of the story. Please enjoy._

_

* * *

_

"Kyouya-san!"

Every head in class 6-B turned, as the door opened to reveal Tsunayoshi Sawada, from 4-A. What did he need?

_Kyouya-san…_

_Kyouya…_

_Kyouya H._

_Kyouya… Hibari_

_Hibari! ?_

The class atmosphere collectively darkened, upon realizing who exactly the young student was calling for. Opening the door without knocking was okay; it was break time. Calling for Hibari was okay; sometimes there was actually an incident that a regular student would report. Calling for Hibari with his first name, however, was _not_ okay; it simply wasn't done.

Obviously, it was unexpected when Hibari actually stood up from his seat in the back row corner (actually, it was the only seat in that row), to confront the smaller student. "What, herbivore?" he growled, clearly annoyed at having his daydreaming session interrupted.

"Hibird and Barinezumi showed up in my classroom!" the brunet stuttered, "The teacher tried to hit Hibird with a textbook when he was sitting on my desk, and Barinezumi accidentally stabbed one of the girls, and then one of the other boys caught him and said that he would crush him for doing that!"

The area surrounding Hibari seemed to drop several degrees, and all of the nearby sixth-graders scooted quickly away. Scowling, the raven pushed past Tsuna (who hadn't managed to jump out of the way fast enough), and turned right, toward the fourth-grade section.

One (extremely) brave, or just stupid, sixth grader moved to the door, to see what was going on. He disappeared down the same direction. It was known that he had a little sister in class 4-A, so he was probably worried that the girl who had been accidentally stabbed by whatever "Kyoushintai" was, would be her.

The rest of the class remained silent and still, listening intently. A few moments of silence… then-

A loud (and very unmanly) male scream was heard, then the sound of running feet. Hibari's voice could be heard muttering darkly, then something heavy hit the ground with a thud. The footsteps again, then another yell, older this time, probably from the teacher. A loud _thwack_, that sounded suspiciously like a body hitting a chalkboard, was heard, then silence.

Hibari materialized in the doorway, dragging behind an unfortunate Sawada. The brunet was scared into silence, holding firmly onto what looked like a hedgehog and a yellow bird in his hands. They stopped in the hallway. "Do not, I repeat, _do not_ let anything happen to them," Hibari menaced. "And don't call me Kyouya at school. Other places, I don't care, but not at school. Got it?"

Nodding feverishly, Sawada disappeared, probably back to his class.

Shortly after Hibari returned to his seat, the (extremely) brave, or just stupid, sixth grader returned as well. "I am extremely glad that Kyoko is alright," he said (shouted) to no one in particular. "By the way, Hibari, what's 4-A going to do without their teacher? I think you broke one of his extreme bones."

"I told them to free study," Hibari replied curtly, "I'm sure they'll figure something out."

6-B remained silent until the teacher returned. And for the rest of that day and the next, they made sure to be on their best behavior, in school and out. No one wanted to find out first-hand what exactly happened to the teacher.


	2. Substitution and Bird Poop

_So apparently, I'd neglected to write for so long that my Document Manager was completely empty. (laughs) So, about this chapter: I'd gotten such demand for a sequel on the first one that I felt _slight_ forced into it. But that's okay; I'd never do anything if I wasn't compelled to by people like you. Also, I promised someone I'd upload this chapter once I finished it (it was only partially completed at the time)._

_FYI, most of this was done _before_ I started NaNoWriMo. Just not the ending and a bit at the end._

* * *

"Tsuna-kun, I'll see you at school later!"

Tsuna looked up from his breakfast with a surprised look upon his face. "Eh? Why, Mom?" he asked, confused. Had he missed something?

His mother merely smiled cheerily. "Don't you remember, Tsu-kun?" she asked, a tinge of excitement coloring the sentence. "Today is Parents day! All the parents and siblings and other family members will be showing up at school!"

Tsuna's already pale face visibly blanched. _All _family members! ? This was horrible! His mother was the only one, because his father and grandfather were always away on business, and his other grandpa, the one who had named him and with whom he shared almost identical looks, had been missing for some time (though Tsuna had a sneaking suspicion that this "disappearance" was another one of his father's jokes). And knowing his luck, people would comment all day on his similarities to his mother.

Oh joyous day.

"Y- you don't have to come!" Tsuna insisted, but his mother was persistent. In the end, the poor boy had no choice but to head to school normally, dreading the allotted time when students' family members would be showing up.

On his way, he ran into Yamamoto; the two lived near each other, and, both having consistent late records, often ended up walking to school together. "Yo, Tsuna!" the taller boy called, running up to clapping his classmate on the back. "Aren't you excited for today? Hahaha, my old man's coming, but my uncle couldn't make it! Ahaha, and it was a shame, lots of people say that the three of us look alike! What about you?"

"E- eh?" Tsuna squeaked, surprised at the extroverted greeting. "O- only my mom…"

Yamamoto chuckled merrily, as was his signature nature. Always laughing. Suddenly, a thought seemed to dawn upon him. "Oh, did you hear?" he asked, "Apparently we'll be joining with the sixth-graders today! Except, not our aniki and aneki groups… so we'll be meeting with either 6-B or 6-C then, I guess, huh?" He laughed again, not noticing the sudden paling of Tsuna's face. "Oh! We should hurry now!"

Grabbing Tsuna by the wrist, the boy sped off, dragging the brunet behind him. It wasn't particularly enjoyable, but it got them both to school on time. Call it intuition, but secretly, Tsuna had the smallest gut feeling that Yamamoto-kun recognized something in Tsuna that made him feel like more than a friend; he had never gotten anyone else to school with his superb running except Tsuna.

Call it intuition… _or_, you could call it the jealous, heated stares of several girls hiding behind street lamp poles and the like, boring holes into his neck with enough intensity to fry oil.

Tsuna hurried inside, Yamamoto already chatting with other baseball club members and leaving him. Being alone in that kind of situation just might be dangerous… just maybe.

Tsuna hurried into the classroom, still feeling like he was being watched. Shaking it off, he went over to his desk. The teacher wasn't here yet and they had a few minutes; maybe if he just stayed quiet and tried to study or something, the-

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed, upon looking on his desk. Hibird was sitting cutely, ready to greet him. Greet him with a pile of bird poop, that is. Disregarding the white puddle he had created, the bird chirruped and flew over to land on the boy's head. "Why, Hibird?" he groaned half-heartedly, before heading to the bathroom to get some paper towels so he could clean it up. This was going to be a long day.

The teacher that day was a substitute, on account of the regular teacher being hospitalized for several cracked ribs, a broken jaw, and some other things that no one cared about. Unfortunately for him, he was to be met with one child in the back scrubbing furiously at his desk with a bird on his head, another throwing what appeared to be short, thick sticks out the window at random, yet another balancing a baseball bat on his head while hopping on one foot, and in general, a class in disarray. Now feeling slightly nervous, he tried clapping to gain everyone's attention. "Morning, class!" he said cheerily. "On account of your regular teacher being hospitalized, I'll be your substitute homeroom teacher until he gets better!"

"In that case, can we go beat him up some more so he doesn't?" one of the more rash male students called out.

"Er… please don't," the teacher replied uncertainly. Raking a hand through his messy blond hair, he took one stick of chalk and began writing in (relatively) neat katakana. "Anyway," he said, still writing. "My name is Dino-"

"Dino-sensei!" One of the girl's hands shot up on the stage (er, teacher) left of the room. "Where are you from?"

"-Dino Cavallone. Hn?," he finished. Turning around, the whole class was surprised to see that he had managed to pretty much coat both his hands, half of his left sleeve, and part of his face with a fine dusting of chalk powder. Appearing not to notice, he gave a broad grin. "Italy," he said. "I'm still working on my languages, so please don't be too hard on me. I'm sure it's going to be a fun few months. Also, I don't care whether you call me by my first or last name, so whichever one you prefer."

"D- Dino-san!" Tsuna called from the back row, raising his hand.

The young man blinked at him, before turning to a seating chart on his desk. "Sawada, right?" he asked. "Did you need something?"

"Y- yes… Sawada Tsunayoshi," the brunet mumbled loudly. "Um, is it true that we're going to be joining with another class for Parents day today?"

Dino blinked again, before leafing through his papers again. Pulling one out, he scanned over it, before turning back to Tsuna, and informed him, "Yeah, I think it is. You guys have 6th grade buddies, right?" The class nodded collectively. "Well, we're not going to be joining them, just so you know. Apparently we're with… 6-B, I think that says."

He looked up in surprise when a chorus of outraged roars, terrified squeals and general unhappiness circulated about the room. "Is there something wrong?" he asked nervously.

All but two people in the class roared simultaneously. "Hibari Kyouya is in that class!"

"Hibari… Kyouya?" Dino asked, blinking again. Then he laughed. "Ha ha ha, Kyouya's not that bad of a guy. I used to be his tutor… in a way. Oh, and… Tsuna, was it? Any particular reason you have a bird?"

Tsuna looked up, bewildered and confused. First: Dino-san had _tutored_ Hibari? Unthinkable. Second, bird? Bird, bird… oh, Hibird! (Somewhere along the line, he'd stopped thinking of the little feather-ball as a bird, and more as an actual species of animal called Hibird.) "Th- this is Hibird," Tsuna stuttered, looking down at the avian hopping about curiously across his desk. "K- Hibari-san said I had to watch over him."

"Haha, guess Sensei's right!" Yamamoto laughed good-naturedly. "They say there's no bad people who like animals, so that's got to mean something, right?"

One of the boys raised his hand. "Sensei!" he shouted out, not waiting to be called upon to speak. "I think we should evict Dame-Tsuna out of the class and send him as a representative instead of all going, because he seems to be friends with Hibari!" A chorus of "agreed!"s circulated about, mostly from the boys and a few of the girls who were desperate for a reason not to go.

"W- We're not friends!" Tsuna stuttered, blushing. "I- I just owe him, is all."

"Sorry, can't have that!" Dino laughed, saving Tsuna from further embarrassment. "We're all going! So I'm just going to pass out these memos to go home, and then you can have ten or fifteen minutes of free time inside the classroom, 'kay?" Gathering the papers, he firmly tripped over his own feet and fell with a loud _thud_ to the floor, a flurry of loose sheets escaping from his hands.

"S- sensei!" one girl, Kyoko, called out. "Are you alright?"

"Hehe, sorry about that!" the teacher apologized, scrambling about to catch the escaping memos. "I have really bad balance sometimes! Anyway, here you go!" He passed the sheets out in stacks to the front member of each column, enough that every person got one, stumbling several times in the process. This continued for a few minutes, before the blissful words: "Okay, ten minutes of free time! Starting… Now!"

A rush of female students washed toward the front, intent on asking the young foreigner lots of questions. Curious things, they were, really.

And with the teacher being busy, Tsuna was soon circled by a group of other boys, all of whom were quite content to embarrass the brunet with a questions and comments session about his relationship with Hibari until his face exploded with red.

…

Dino clapped his hands again. "Alright, everyone out into the hallway! Quiet, single file line, please!"

Naturally, no one listened. Chattering animatedly, they flowed through the doorway into a large clump, having seemingly forgotten all about 6-B and its most infamous student.

"Hey!" Dino called. "Quiet, please! It echoes in the hallway." After a minute or two, the class successfully managed to organize itself into a single-file line, in alphabetical order, boys first. "Alright, off we go to 6-B!"

For a moment, no one moved, suddenly remembering why they had been dreading this moment so much. But the silent spell was quickly broken by a certain brunet and whoever was standing behind him in line…

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna! Get that disgusting bird away from me!"

"Hibird's not disgusting! Hibird is perfectly clean and nice!"

"Hibari! Hibari!"

"It's probably trained to kill! There's bound to be dried blood in its feathers!"

"Not 'it!' He! I'll beat it into you if I have to!"

Dino immediately sprung into action, separating the two with a strained smile upon his features. "Hey, hey, don't fight! I'm sure that… Hibird… isn't disgusting at all. And Tsuna, I'm sure you didn't mean that, right? Apologize to each other, both of you." The entire class was silent, inwardly contemplating the sharp, violent tongue that had sprung into the Loser's mouth. What was even more daunting was that right after uttering the sentence, he had gone into an even weaker state than usual. What were they dealing with when they called him "Dame-Tsuna"?

A slow clapping filled the silent space. "Well done," a lazy voice interrupted. "I must say I'm impressed." Hibari's black and white attire came into view, a small smirk forming at his lips. "Sensei said that I should come find out what's keeping this class. I'm glad I didn't miss that little… spectacle." Still smirking, he turned upon his heel and stalked off toward his own classroom, gesturing with his hand that they follow. Hibird took flight and perched snugly upon the boy's shoulder.

No one dared fall out of line as they marched, both literally and figuratively.

…

Upon entering the classroom, it was revealed that all of the family members, mostly mothers while the fathers worked, were already crammed in the back. "Eh… As such, we will be having class 4-A join us for the day," the teacher droned, apparently just finishing some speech. Many of the parents clapped as the students filed in, taking the desks that had been laid out in the back of the overly large room that had been prepared for the joint. All of 6-B were sitting in their regular order, and so Hibari took his seat next to the window.

There were a few moments of silent scrambling as fourth-graders fought each other for desks as far away from the raven as possible. As natural selection dictates, the weakest found himself closest to danger. Tsuna half-reluctantly took the seat directly next to Hibari, as everyone knew that to sit anywhere behind him was suicide. Everyone else scooted their desks in the opposite direction, but Tsuna simply stayed put out of respect.

"Well," Dino began, standing at the front of the class. "Because this is a joint class, we're going to be doing this a bit differently than most years." He held up two boxes stacked atop one another, and continued, "Here we have to boxes, one for each homeroom. Now, what we're doing is, we'll pick someone at random from 4-A, then from 6-B, and back and forth. So, you don't know who's going when! Any questions?" Not a single hand went up, and Dino smiled. "Alright, then, who wants to draw first?"

The first (not to mention only) hand to rise went up rather dramatically in the front row. One hand slammed onto the desk, the other shot up like a punch (actually, it _was_ a punch), and the chair toppled over as the boy stood up. "I _extremely_ will!" he roared energetically.

Dino quailed a bit a the waves of energy radiating off the sixth grader. "Er… sure. What's your name?" he asked.

"I am Ryohei Sasagawa to the extreme! Everything I do is extreme! My favorite word is _extreme!_ "

Cowering, Dino held out the fourth-graders' box. "Just pull out one, okay?"

The boy very nearly punched the lid in with his ferocious grabbing method. "Tsunayoshi Sawadaaaa!" he roared, loudly enough to make everyone within a 1.5-meter radius (not to mention several people outside of that) cover their ears in shock. He issued one last fist to the empty air, before righting his chair and sitting obediently.

The blond teacher was simply dazed by the sheer volume of the student. "Uh… well, thank you, Ryohei-kun. So, Tsuna, and whoever among his family is here, come on up." He slunk off to the side to lean against the wall and watch. That first sixth-grader had somehow taken a lot out of him.

Amid the claps of the parents in the back of the room, Tsuna slunk miserably forward. Alone. "Um, Mom?" he called once he reached the front. "Are you he-"

Suddenly the door slid open. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" Nana Sawada beamed, coming in. "I misread the time schedule!"

Several students snickered and giggled at the mother-son similarity. Tsuna, on the other hand, wanted to take a _spoon_ and stab himself with it. _This_ was partly why he hadn't wanted you to come, Mom! Ignoring the despairing vibes that her child sent out in waves, Nana all but skipped to the front.

Shaking his head to clear it, Tsuna began in a stuttered voice. "U- um… my name is Tsunayoshi Sawada, or Tsuna, and this is my mother, Nana Sawada. Er…" What else was he supposed to say? Had they even been briefed on what to say?

Unfortunately, Tsuna's mother took her son's silence an entirely different way. Meaning, she took it as her cue to continue the introduction. "Hello!" she called, waving. "Tsu-kun already said it, but I'm Nana Sawada! I hope you'll all be nice to Tsu-kun, because he's just shy and fragile! So picking on him is just terrible, alright?"

Another round of amused snorts circulated about the room, louder and more frequent this time. "M- mom!" Tsuna yelped, flushing. "I am _not_ fragile!"

A hand went up toward the back row. "Tsuna-kun! I have a question!" Kyoko called out, before waiting quietly to be called upon. When Tsuna had given the okay, she put her hand down. "Can I stop by your house later to pick up something I left with you by accident?"

"Absolutely!" Nana replied, before Tsuna could even get his tongue under control. "A girl as cute as you can come by any time you want."

At this point, recognizing how embarrassed the student was, Dino stepped in. "Alright! You've got quite an interesting mom, Tsuna! Who wants to draw from the 6-B box?" Once again, Ryohei's hand shot up like a rocket. "Er, you've already gone, Ryohei," Dino sweat-dropped. "Tsuna, since you just came up, why don't you pick?"

Timidly, Tsuna stuck a hand in, withdrawing one slip of paper. "H- Hibari-san?" he squeaked, reading the name.

Abruptly, the older boy stood up. "They're not here," he declared firmly. While everyone else just looked at him, confused, Tsuna alone (_possibly_ Dino as well, but probably not) knew exactly what this was about.

Unfortunately for Hibari, a rock clacked against the window. Grabbing the handle, he pulled it open. "Go home!" he shouted irately at whoever was down there.

"What do you mean, 'go home?' I'm _supposed_ to be here. Or did you forget?"

Tsuna immediately recognized the voice. "Is that… Kyo-san…?" he asked no on in particular incredulously.

Hibari glared him into silence. "I'm telling you to go home! And don't come back!" he hollered back down.

"Kyouya, I'm jumping up there in five seconds. I suggest you move. Right now."

Resigning to the fact, Hibari moved a few paces away from the window (other students moved several desk-scoots away from him _and_ the window). There was a whirring noise, before two metal grappling hooks clacked upon the window sill. Shortly, they were followed by a suit-clad man. "Hey," he said nonchalantly, hopping down from the dangerous position. "I'm sure you don't mind me entering."

"K- Kyo-san!" Tsuna shouted. Swiftly, he clamped both hands over his mouth, but the damage was done. _Idiot, idiot, idiot; you're not supposed to know!_

Kyo turned his head to look at Tsuna. "What do you know?" he smirked. "It's Tsunayoshi Sawada."

Grabbing the older man's sleeve, Kyouya glared fiercely at Tsuna. "Alright, you came in, now leave," he growled, attempting to drag Kyo to the door.

Reaching over with his other hand, the latter hoisted his younger brother up by the back of his shirt. "Now, that's no way to greet someone, is it?" he asked, still smirking. "Besides, I heard you're up next? Leaving now would be rude." Managing to wriggle free, Kyouya dropped to the ground and pounced.

Carefully, Tsuna wove through the now well-skewed corridors between the columns and rows of desks. "U- um, Kyo-san, Kyouya-san!" he attempted to shout over the noises of clanging metal, while keeping a safe distance away. "Maybe you shouldn't fight in here?"

"Sawada-san, do you mind if I ask what's going on here?"

Tsuna yelped in surprise, and his head snapped to the side. Fong stood there, smiling calmly as always. "F- Fong-san!" the boy sighed in relief. "You scared me!"

"I'm very sorry," Fong apologized, bowing. "Now, about Kyo and Kyouya…"

"Oh, Right!" Tsuna swallowed nervously. "Basically, Kyo-san came in through the window, and Kyouya-san was upset about it… so they started fight-"

Suddenly Alaude appeared between the two battlers (where the heck did he come from?). "Kyo, I said absolutely _no fighting_ today! Kyouya! Behave better!" he growled irately.

"Go ahead and make me, old man!" Kyouya growled rebelliously. Way past the point of being pacified, he continued going at it once again with Kyo.

The latter, on the other hand, was more wary of their father's murderous aura. Slowly, he lead the battle toward the window, before executing a backflip out of it. Growling menacingly, Kyouya soon followed (albeit far less gracefully).

"W- Wait, Kyouya-sa-!" Tsuna began, running to the window. He watched helplessly as the two continued fighting all around the courtyard. "Um, Alaude-san, is there anythi-"

"Move over," the blond ordered, and Tsuna obediently scrambled. A gray blur shot past him, disappearing out the window.

Tsuna resumed his post at the sill, Fong taking the space next to him. "Fong-san, is this okay?" Tsuna asked uncertainly. "I mean, what with the fighting and how angry Alaude-san was, and-"

"They'll be fine," Fong reassured him with a pat on the shoulder. "Perhaps with a few broken bones, but all three of them will live to fight another day. They might as well be Death Gods. Although I do hope you don't mind this."

The brunet looked up in surprise. "Don't mine wha- ah, _aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!_" Fong had grabbed him be the arm roughly, before picking him up easily and jumping out the window. With grace akin to that of a feline, the Chinese man leapt safely into a tree. Tsuna's head was the first to appear above the foliage. "Fong-san, what was that for! ?" he pouted. "I thought I was going to die!"

Fong's head resurfaced, as if they were both floating in the ocean. "As I said, I do hope that you didn't mind that," he smiled. "I merely had a feeling that it would be easier to deal with this if you were here."

Tsuna was sorely tempted to scream _lies!_, however, he managed to suppress it. One more person angry at him was _not_ what he needed right now. Instead, he took a deep breath, and sighed.

"Hey, Tsunayoshi," Kyo called from below, blocking another attack from Kyouya. "Come down here for a second."

"Eh?" Curiously, Tsuna clambered down awkwardly from the top. Partway down, his foot slipped, and he bounced the rest of the way with a yell. He shut his eyes tightly, anticipating a nice, face-to-face reunion with the dusty ground.

Instead, he was saved by Kyo managing to catch him somehow. "Nice job," the older man smirked. Without warning, he threw Tsuna, before darting around the tree to escape from a fast-approaching Alaude.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiie!" Tsuna screamed, once more expecting a harsh visit to Mr. Hard Earth's doorstep. And once more, he was saved.

"Herbivore, get off of me. Right now," Kyouya growled irately. Scrambling, Tsuna jumped off. He had plowed straight into the upperclassman, bowling them both over on top of each other.

"I- I'm sorry Kyouya-sa- ow!" Tsuna flinched, as a spiky ball that looked suspiciously like a chestnut fell from a tree and bounced on his head.

"Kyuu!" it squealed cutely, unrolling. Barinezumi sneezed once, then snuffled and crawled onto the brunet's shoe. "Kyuuu–!"

Tsuna lifted up his foot and attempted to balance on one leg. "B- Barinezumi!" he squeaked, looking at the rodent. "What are you doing here?" In reply, he only received a large amount of hiccuping and yawning.

"I think he drank or ate something odd," Kyouya said, not watching the two. He seemed to be winding the handle on a small purple box. "He's been like that since this morning; it's like he's drunk or something."

"Um, Kyouya-san?" Tsuna asked tentatively, staring at the box in the upperclassman's hands. "What is that?" _A jack-in-the-box...?_

"Micro Hammer in a box."

"… Eh?"

Kyouya sighed. "A micro hammer is a pretty much a mini-baseball with spikes on it. When propelled using this spring-loaded box at full tension, it can be launched fast enough to snap a full-grown tree in half." He stopped winding it, and pointed the one end with a hole in it toward the two other battle contestants. "This isn't at full, but it'll work. As a side note, it's based off of Roll."

He pressed a button on the side, and the Micro Whatever-it-was shot out. For an instant, Tsuna was able to see it clearly, before it rocketed away. Indeed, it looked like a tiny baseball with vicious metal spikes on it. Alaude saw it coming, for he seemed to suddenly disappear once the thing was shot (crazy old man with his disappearing acts). Kyo had a more narrow escape, as he jumped upwards into the nearest tree. The Micro Hammer hit the ground where they had been just a moment before, and promptly caused a small explosion, big enough for a dust cloud and a small crater (it looked rather like an anthill, he thought).

"Did I mention that some of them contain small amounts of explosives?"

Tsuna blanched. "K- Kyouya-san…" he stuttered, "I… uh… don't think that's legal…"

Kyouya gave him a skeptical look. "Did I ask you?"

_Why don't the authorities catch this guy! ?_

Two figures, one red and one black, dropped out of the nearby tree that Barinezumi had come out of, and one backflipped and cartwheeled away nimbly as the other focused on attacking and moving forward. As Kyo and Fong moved past the two elementary-schoolers, the former stopped for an instant and pointed a tonfa at Kyouya. "Get rid of that thing," he barked sharply, "I'd rather not have to go to the trouble of biting you to death for that."

Tsuna squeaked again, as he found himself hoisted up by the back of his shirt. "I'll be confiscating that, Kyouya," Alaude's voice rumbled from behind his ear, as the man plucked the box from Kyouya's hands with his free one. Tsuna broke out into a cold sweat of terror. "At least until you find something_ else_ to use for your ammo." He had picked them both up using his right hand, and used the left to pop the box into one of his many coat pockets.

"Um… Alaude-san?" Tsuna asked tentatively, feet still dangling above the earth. The blond raised an eyebrow, grunting softly. "Do you… uh… know any way to get Kyo-san and Fong-san to stop fighting?"

"Of course I do," Alaude scoffed, as if the mere thought otherwise was stupid (of course it was). "But I choose not to because I see no reason to get involved."

"Then let me!" Kyouya almost whined, struggling to be freed. "I will gladly finish this up!"

Alaude only gripped his shirt tighter. "Oh no you won't," he grumbled, free hand in his pocket, "You're going to make this worse. Let Fong deal with it."

Kyouya crossed his arms and hung there, pouting, as the three watched the fight continue. Fong never attacked, only evading and countering each strike that Kyo continued. Clearly, the latter refused to take "no" as an answer.

Finally taking an initiative, Fong blew what appeared to be some kind of smoke in Kyo's face, who stumbled backwards, clutching his nose, before collapsing. The autumn breeze blew the smoke lightly in the trio's direction, and Tsuna realized too late that both Kyouya and Alaude had taken a deep breath and held their noses, as the awful stench threatened to overtake his sense and throw him into a state of unconsciousness. His vision fazed in and out dramatically as he hung limp in Alaude's grip, stunned.

The perpetrator sauntered over, smiling as he chewed contentedly on a steamed dumpling. Behind him, he dragged a stunned Kyo by the back of his black suit jacket, disregarding any concern for his eldest son. "I'm sorry that took so long, Alaude," he said, smiling, "Oh, is there something wrong with Sawada-san?"

Still holding his nose, Alaude nodded his head toward the brunet. "Go on, take a guess. It just _might_ have something to do with your food."

Kyouya growled, and took action, in the sense of whacking Tsuna upside the head, who yelped in pain. "K- Kyouya-san!" he shouted, "What was that for! ?"

"Idiot," Kyouya muttered, "You breathed in the Gyoza Essence, didn't you?"

"… Huh?" Tsuna asked, blinking at the older boy. "I breathed in the what?"

"The _smoke_, Sawada. Did you or did you not inhale it?"

"Uh… accidentally, yeah."

Fong took the chance to intrude on the conversation. "That's the concentrated essence of various spices such as garlic and ginger. Mostly garlic," he explained cheerfully, "I think it tastes and smells wonderful. Everyone else disagrees."

"It _tastes_ fine," Alaude cut in, looking away as he suddenly found interest in several falling leaves, "But I'm not saying _anything_ about that smell. Ever. It will mess with your nervous system."

Tsuna visibly paled and hung his head in his hands, as Fong continued. "Anyway, you're going to have to get some medical treatment for that, especially if you're getting a headache."

The two adults began heading out the gate, as Tsuna flailed. "Wait wait wait!" he shouted, "I have to let my mom know! A- and and and school's not over ye-"

Alaude snapped a golden pocket watch shut and tucked it into his breast pocket. "You can call your mother when we get there; that is the reason why household phones exist. Would you rather not be saved from possible symptoms of Choreia or even Hemiballismus in the near future without your mom knowing? And guess what, school's already over for you. The parents are supposed to stay for a meeting, but Fong and I already know everything they're planning on saying, so there's no point in staying."

"Bu-"

"No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"Wait! I still- I left- But- I think this is considered kidnapping, Alaude-san!"

"Problems?"

"H- hie! None!"

"Good. I thought not."

* * *

_Hmm… that ending right there may or may not warrant a third chapter… (shrugs) Either way, the next chapter (if it happens) would be an omake of sorts (there's no real plot to this, everything's an omake) using an idea for a short comic that I thought up a month or two ago._

_ "Tsuna and Tsunayoshi and Natsu and Giotto's Four Men Family Lifestyle." ← something like that. It would only be an "omake" because it would take the same basis as these past two chapters (crazy families), but the story itself would have no real relation._

_So here's a _real_ omake: a small expansion on Giotto's (I hope you all realized that was Giotto) grandfatherhood to Tsuna. (As a side note, I'm working on a story that takes that kind of situation into detail. Kyouya-niichan type thing.)_

* * *

Nana opened the door, admitting a rather handsome blond man. The latter bowed, flashing a dazzling smile that matched his beautiful sky-blue eyes. "Good morning, Nana," he said, his Japanese fluid with only the barest trace of an Italian accent. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion. How's Tsunayoshi?"

The woman giggled in response to the blond. His name was Giotto, though he had gotten a legal name change to Ieyasu Sawada after moving to Japan and raising his family. "Father, you've never aged a day since Iemitsu and I got married. How do you do it?" she laughed, shaking the hand that was offered to her. "Of course we don't mind, silly! Any family of Iemitsu's is welcome anytime, you know that. Tsu-kun is-"

"Grandad!" a squeaky voice interrupted. Both adults turned to look at the tiny 6-year old bumbling his way down the hallway excitedly. The tiny brunet tripped again, and yelped as strong arms scooped him up before he even came near to hitting the ground.

"How are you, Tsunayoshi?" Giotto asked humorously, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. "Doing good?"

In response, Tsuna clung to the front of Giotto's short-sleeved dress shirt with tiny fists, nuzzling his face into the thin shoulder. "Really good, grandad," he mumbled into the shirt, smiling. This blond man was his father's father, the always-cheerful man who seemed to little Tsuna almost godly, and his look-alike relative. The two were identical, save for Giotto's blond versus Tsuna's milk-chocolate brown hair, and their eyes, the grandfather's being bluer than a sapphire and the grandson's, clear amber. And because of this, when the boy was born, the grandfather had been given the honor of naming him. It was soon clear that the Sawadas would have a family tradition: the first boy was to be named after a Tokugawa shogun.

Giotto smiled broader, if it was possible, and managed to extract his feet from his shoes while still keeping a tight hold on the boy's frail figure.

"Would you know?" Nana laughed quietly, clapping her hands together at the adorable sight. "Tsu-kun's been so excited since last night. Like he knew you were coming today!" She went to get a camera, and snapped a quick picture of her son clinging happily to his grandfather, before she escorted them to the living room. "I'll go get some snacks," she promised, leaving the room momentarily for the kitchen.

It was only when Giotto sat down on the plush green couch that Tsuna dared to let go. He bounced happily on the old man's knee, smiling fit to burst. "Grandad, I haven't seen you in… in… forever!" he chirruped happily. "And Dad's hardly ever home, and then I never get to see the other Grandad 'cause he's always in Italy!"

Smiling back, the blond poked Tsuna's nose gently. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" he asked playfully, tickling the child.


	3. Four Men Family Lifestyle

_I'm sorry! _MAWWriter_ was volunteering to be my editor, but I didn't get any messages or anything, so I just went ahead with it? Anyway, sorry for the long wait, but here is _**Tsuna and Tsunayoshi and Natsu and Giotto's Four Men Family Lifestyle**. _Here's a simple character listing:_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi (14): The second son, and the younger twin brother of Tsunayoshi «Hyper». Real name is Ietsuna, answers better to Tsunayoshi, nickname is Tsuna. Just might be the most normal kid in the house. Often takes care of Natsu._

_Sawada Tsunayoshi «Hyper»(14): Tsuna's elder twin brother, and the first son. Calm and collected, he's very mature. He enjoys teasing Tsuna and playing with Natsu._

_Sawada Natsu (5): Tsuna and Tsunayoshi's younger brother, as the third son. An innocent kid, his hobby is to imitate his brothers' attitudes. Never takes his visor off. Also enjoys pretending to be a lion._

_Sawada Ieyasu (?): Birth name is Giotto. The three sons' father. Ordinarily is mature like Tsunayoshi, but sometimes is just a silly, nonsensical young man._

* * *

Many neighbors of the Sawada family were of the opinion that they were a very smoothly-run group. They hardly bickered or fought, the single father, Ieyasu, trusted all three kids (even 5-year old Natsu) with any job they thought they could handle, both older twins were kind and gentle, never snapping at each other or their baby brother unless it was necessary, and overall they were a very welcoming and open-minded lot of people.

Unfortunately, they were all wrong.

6:45 in the morning, and 3 alarms around the small house were blaring loudly. Within the 12 seconds following, all three were set back on snooze, and the four members of the building snuggled back down into the downy sheets.

7:15. Blearily, one boy, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the oldest child, blinked and squinted in the sunlight slanting through the window shades. Turning his head, he looked across the room, to see his younger identical twin brother, Tsunayoshi (or Tsuna, as he liked to be called), still snoozing, sheets thrown willy-nilly, with his feet on the pillow and head at the footboard. Who knew how he slept like that, but he did. (Although his real name was Ietsuna, he had unintentionally learned his brother's name instead, and it stuck. People were always confused on the first days of school when the teacher would call "Sawada Tsunayoshi!" and two voices would answer, then one would apologize.)

The two of them had the same wild brown hair, tinted with hints of copper and metallic bronze in the right light, which stuck out in every direction imaginable and framed a lightly tanned, youthful face. They had the same physique and stature, too: both short for their age and rather lean. However, there were three aspects where they were hardly similar in the slightest. First, their eyes. While Tsuna's eyes were a bright amber, filled with laughter and innocent joy, Tsunayoshi's were closer to a dull- but not lifeless or bored- wood brown, the color of a violin, mellow and warm rather than bright and cheerful. Although they both (along with their brother and father) had a strange gene where, when deeply angered or deadly serious, their eyes caught the light and seemed to become a molten gold or sunset orange, a flickering flame that threatened to explode with wrath when provoked even a step further. Second, their voices were different too; Tsunayoshi had the fine, mature tone of one who was meant to be in charge, to help others when help was needed and to face any problematic situation at hand with confidence and grace, while Tsuna's voice was… cuter, for lack of a more fitting description, but of someone who would easily accept you for whatever you were and wouldn't ever make one feel bad intentionally. Last, their personalities came off differently as well. While Ietsuna was nervous and unsure, Tsunayoshi was more calm and collected in what he did. But that wasn't to say that they were on different levels entirely: true, Tsuna was abysmal at sports while his brother was a quick learner for things like soccer and picking up moves, vice versa applying for more artistic matters, neither was much good in the classroom and both had two left feet when they weren't looking out.

Yawning, the elder sat up a bit, and chanced a look at the alarm clock.

Three pairs of eyes snapped open to the sound of a very, very loud scream. "Wha- Where's the fire?" Tsuna yawned, sitting up slowly. Looking over, he saw his brother wrestling to get his pants on.

"This!" Tsunayoshi snapped back, grabbing his own alarm clock off the desk and tossing it at the other. It smacked him full in the face, and Tsuna rubbed his eye painfully before taking a look.

A strangled cry escaped from his throat, and he threw whatever covers were still on top of him out of the way before grabbing a neatly folded uniform out of the closet and hurrying to get ready for school himself. Both of them tried to get out the door at the same time, and ended up crashing, both falling backwards with a pained yelp after smacking their foreheads together.

Their father, Ieyasu, stopped on his way down the hall, to give a bewildered look to the two sons. His blond hair was a bit more spike than the boys' fluff, hazel eyes glowing with cheer beneath the single bunch of bangs that hung between his eyes (they were an interesting color; though no one could doubt they were blue and brown hazel, they were clear sapphire with slivers of amber, rather than the usual brown with flecks of green or blue). He wore pressed black dress pants with silver pinstripes running down the length and a crisp vest of the same color pattern, with a white dress shirt underneath, the whole thing topped off by a black necktie. "Tsuna, Tsunayoshi, what are you doing? You're going to be late!"

"Morning Da- Wait! Dad! Your vest!" Tsuna managed to shout.

The one in question looked down in shock, and began trying to unbutton it from behind. "Now how in the world did that happen?" he muttered, turning it around the right way. Both boys shrugged. Calmly, this time, they again tried to get out the door. "Tsuna! Can you wake Natsu up! ? He's not downstairs!" Ieyasu's voice called from the lower floor, as the sounds and smells of rushed cooking began wafting up.

"On it!" he called, hurrying back down the hallway. Tsunayoshi would get their bags together, he knew. Rushing into his baby brother's room, the first thing he noticed was that the bed was empty. An instant of panic overtook him, before he saw the struggling bundle on the floor. Apparently, little Natsu couldn't get his sweater on because his head was stuck. Oh, brother.

Squatting down, he sat the little child up (all 4 of them were petit for their ages) and tugged down on the sweater so that his head popped out. Brown-orange hair tipped with copper and bronze, and bright caramel eyes with flame-orange flecks hidden beneath a blue visor and messy bangs could now be seen. "Thanks, nii-chan!" he squeaked, pouncing over to his backpack.

"You _could've_ taken your visor off, Natsu," Tsuna sighed, knowing full well that it was useless. The tiny child wouldn't part from that thing no matter what. "Come on, breakfast. Let's get downstairs. "

"Too much effort…" Natsu groaned, stretching facedown on the floor. He had seen his nii-chan do this yesterday, and thought it was funny.

Tsuna frowned momentarily before picking the tiny kid up in one arm, backpack in the other. "Come on, we're all going to be late," he said, skipping down the stairs (nearly tripping and killing them both in the process).

Downstairs, both Ieyasu and Tsunayoshi were already scarfing down the miso soup, rice, and chicken salad at speeds unrivaled. Dropping Natsu into an empty seat, Tsuna did the same, upon which almost choking on an unusually large chunk of chicken before Ieyasu pounded him on the back.

…

When the two older twins rushed outside with half-full stomachs and full bags, Natsu with his backpack swinging giddily between their arms, they were greeted by two other boys waiting by the gate.

"Good morning Tenth, Decimo!" the shorter of the two, Gokudera Hayato, greeted them, bowing politely first to Tsuna, then to Tsunayoshi. Ordinarily, both would insist that he not be so formal with them, but he was a persistent boy. Sage green eyes, usually scrunched in a scowl, were grinning cheerfully as he saw them. Gokudera was three-quarters Italian and one fourth Japanese, fluent in both languages, with mid-lenth silver hair that resembled, to some people, an octopus. A star student in every way possible, most teachers said that the only thing to work on was his attitude and sleeping-in-class habits. Others said worse.

"Deh… chi… mo?" Natsu repeated, trying to familiarize his tongue with the foreign word.

The other newcomer, Yamamoto, leaned down and ruffled the five-year old's hair with a hand, calloused from many long years of baseball, affectionately. "Yo! Morning, Tsuna, Yoshi!" The abnormally tall black-haired boy was the only one to refer to Tsunayoshi as 'Yoshi,' saying that it was easier for him to say. The grin that graced his tanned features now was ever-present, his air-headed and happy-go-lucky attitude always in direct contrast to Gokudera. "Is this your brother? Haha, he looks exactly like you two!"

Tsuna nodded, smiling back. "Good morning, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto," he said. "Y- yeah, this is Natsu."

"Good morning, you two," his brother nodded, then looked down at his brother. "De-ci-mo," he repeated. "It's Italian for 'tenth,' Gokudera-kun said. Oh, let's get walking."

"But nii-chan is 'juudaime,' nii-san!" he chirped back as they got going, curiosity piqued. "So that makes you both tenth!"

Gokudera intervened, sparing 'Decimo' from having to explain the whole matter. "Yes, they're both 'Tenth.' My dad was an old friend of your father's, and called him Primo as a nickname once, which then stuck. The two were thick as thieves, according to Dad, but they got through thick and thin all the same. I decided when I first met Decimo and the Tenth that I would strive to always be there for them, because I look up to my Dad so much that I wanted to be like him. As for why they're 'tenths' instead of 'seconds,' well… it's easier to say, I suppose. And being a round number like a ten appeals more to me than being the only even prime number."

"Oh, wait, don't you think we should get going?" Yamamoto interjected, chuckling when he saw Natsu's confused expression. Who else but Gokudera would try to speak with prime numbers and long phrases to a five-year old?

Tsuna checked his watch. "Hiie!" he yelped. "Yamamoto's right! And we have to drop Natsu off at daycare, too!"

The five sped off, Gokudera with an exclamation of, "I shall accompany you both as it is my duty!" and Yamamoto for the sake of going, laughing all the way.

…

Being dumped unceremoniously (for the most part) at the daycare center was not part of little Natsu's idea of a perfect morning. Not at all. Although it wasn't _bad_, he supposed. After waving goodbye to his brothers and his new friends, he held the hand of the nice teacher as they walked down the hallway towards the classroom.

Upon entering, the small boy was met with a face full of soot-black bomber head hair. "Natsu!" Lambo yelled, clinging onto his friend's sweater. "You're late! As punishment, you'll have to be Lambo-san's underling for today."

"Bad Lambo! Natsu-san is not an underling!" another voice chided him from behind. I-Pin, with her wide forehead, thin eyes and signature ponytail, appeared, and bowed to Natsu. "Good morning, Natsu-san. Nice to see you today!"

"Good to see you too, I-Pin, Lambo," the brunet smiled. It was weird, but these two were his best friends; after all, they'd been friends longer than any of them cared to remember. Not just that, I-Pin's older brother Fong was a year older than nii-chan and nii-san, so the two came over often, even if it was only to say hi.

It was always fun days to be had with these two around. Once, on children's day, the teacher had asked them all to write their wishes on paper koi fish and then color them so they could be pasted all over the walls. Lambo's messy scrawl of "World Domination shall be mine" had made Natsu laugh nervously and I-Pin chide the cowboy harshly. After all, Lambo seemed the kind of kid who might actually try and _maybe_, just _maybe_, succeed. I-Pin's wish had been a bit more serious; she had wanted to become a better fighter. Although that was scary too. According to her, both she and Fong attended the same dojo for their… Gyoza-Ken, was it? Anyway, Fong, despite being only 10 years older than his sister (disregarding that as a long time between siblings [after all, Natsu and his brothers had a little under 9 years]), was the youngest master, and taught all the beginners while continuing his own training at other times. Not only that, I-Pin was one of their most promising young pupils. In comparison, Natsu felt silly for writing, "I want to be useful" and "I want to accomplish something." But in his defense, the Loser-gene seemed to run in the Sawada family; his dad had been awful in school for years before discovering his talents had no tie to conventional education whatsoever, and his brothers were the Loser-Tsuna pair. Not that they seemed to mind, and on the contrary, they seemed perfectly okay with it.

"What should we do today?" he asked them. Together, they could be either the worst or best kid that a preschool teacher had ever seen (depending on how they blended), but they had fun and never felt that the world should be any different.

"Lambo-san wants to work on the World Domination plan!" Lambo yelled immediately. After a slight, pause, he added, "And plot to kill Reborn, too!"

Natsu smiled, watching I-Pin berate the afro-haired boy for his outcry. Reborn was one of Fong's friends, a master at nearly everything (or so it seemed to them). He was dark and mysterious, his speech formal and clipped, and his attitude ever the gentleman's. He was good in school too, often taking it in his duty to completely blaspheme the teachers' knowledge; naturally, he was head of the debate team as well. And he tutored both of Natsu's brothers on Wednesdays after school. To the chestnut-haired boy, Reborn was amazing: smart, strong, and courteous, he was one of his role models. Except that he was very, _very_ scary… everything except that was amazing about him.

Naturally, Lambo hated him. (The thought process apparently went something like this: A, World Domination must require that the dictator be the best at everything. B, Reborn is the best at everything. Because of points A and B, therefore, Reborn must go (C). Only problem was, every time the five-year old ran up with some sort of weapon [bet it a stick or a stone], Reborn not only knew that it was coming and hardly moved a single muscle, but was absolutely merciless when slapping the offending item away and most likely severely injuring Lambo in the process.) "I- It's okay, I-Pin. How about… let's play Mafia!"

The other two agreed immediately. Lambo quickly decided that he would be a Boss, and everyone else must be his underling. I-Pin rejected the idea, and nominated Natsu to be their boss. In the end, Natsu was the Boss of a family against Lambo, and I-Pin was the assassin-for-hire whose current mission was to take Lambo's life. All was good.

…

All was not good.

The quartet had been tearing their way down the streets pell-mell, racing against the clock to avoid getting marked tardy. (Yamamoto laughed all the way, and Gokudera yelled at him. Tsuna took a moment to wonder how neither of them got out-of-breath before concentrating his efforts back on being on time.) And, of course, it had ended with Gokudera and Yamamoto crossing the threshold a fraction of a second before the bell rang.

Of course, this was a fraction of a second before Tsuna and Tsunayoshi got through the gates.

_Drat._

"Hey," a slightly sinister voice greeted the two. Tsuna's flesh crawled, and he could see Tsunayoshi stiffen slightly. "Do you two know what time it is?"

Tsuna whirled around to see a dark-haired boy leaning casually against the courtyard wall. "Hi- Hibari-san!" he squeaked. "Er… time to get to class?"

"Nope, it's time to be in class," the prefect corrected, before standing up straight and walking over to them. "You two aren't where you're supposed to be. Which means…" Tsuna clung to his brother in fright when a pair of tonfas were drawn from somewhere inside the Disciplinary Committee Leader's jacket. "I'll need to _tutor_ the herbivores a bit. Don't worry, I'll call an ambulance."

They cowered underneath the predatory smirk directed at them. "I'll bite you to death."

…

Tsuna opened his eyes to find himself being dragged down the hallway. Blinking, he realized that his entire body was sore, and that Tsunayoshi was being pulled along next to him, looking equally battered if not more so. For a few moments, he tried to understand what exactly was going on, before it hit him.

They'd been a mere second late. Hibari decided to bite them to death for it. And they were apparently now being used (rather heartlessly and unceremoniously) to sweep the floor before they probably became dead weights (literally). "Oh, you're awake," he heard a voice say, and he looked up to see that whoever was dragging them had stopped, and was looking at him.

"Hi- Hibari-san!" he squeaked out quietly, recognizing the tone (his eyes weren't focusing quite as well as they should have been able to).

The one in question snorted. "You two are too weak. It's boring. The Infirmary should be open." Tsuna shuddered as the prefect continued dragging the two by the backs of their vests. "Also, you're considerably weaker than your brother. At least he went down with a fight, as pitiful as it was. You're pathetic."

"So… why are you helping us?" the brunet asked timidly. "Help" being in the sense of "not hurting anymore."

"I told you I was going to call an ambulance, but your spinelessness made me not want to fight anymore. Besides, if I'd left you two out there you would've died for sure because some sort of higher animal would've come down and picked at your bones. A corpse lying on Namimori grounds would be unsightly."

It was at that time that they reached the infirmary door. Kicking it open, Hibari walked in without any warning or invitation. "Oi, what the-" the nurse shouted, jumping up. He was a rather rugged man, with stubble and a dark brown haircut sort of similar to Gokudera's, with thick eyebrows. Dr. Shamal looked the two injured up and down disapprovingly. "I don't treat boys, kid," he told Hibari, sniffing and sitting back down. "But if they're going to treat their own injuries, take the beds."

The prefect nodded, then proceeded to bodily throw Tsuna and his brother into beds next to each other. "Now, what did we learn today?" he asked venomously.

"Th- that being late is never an option! ?" Tsuna spluttered out, shrinking into the headboard (er, headrail?).

"Good. Next time I'll really kill you two."

With that, he turned on his heel and left. As Tsuna breathed a heavy sigh of relief before groaning in pain and sinking down into the mattress, Shamal spoke up. "One of these days, I'm going to come in here and find a pile of bones in one of those beds, you know. When that happens, I'll let the authorities know that it's you."

…

"So what you're saying is… you want me to let you off the hook for being late to class because you went to the infirmary?"

Tsuna nodded fearfully to the science teacher. Mr. Nezu was clearly shaking with barely suppressed rage at the quivering student. "Sawada-kun," he barked, "It's only 15 minutes into first period! Why in the world would you already need to be in the infirmary this early in the morning! ?"

"Tenth!" Gokudera shouted, standing up. "I was sure the baseball nut and I got to school at the same time you did!"

"I agree with Gokudera," Yamamoto piped up. "I thought you and Yoshi were right behind us; Gokudera looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown when you didn't show up for homeroom."

"Er… well, that's the thing," Tsuna pointed out nervously. "We were right _behind_ you." Raking a hand through his messy hair, he hummed in thought. "Um, let's see… I have a huge bruise on my lower back, various cuts and scrapes across my forearms, a scab forming above my left eyebrow, and I have a stomachache now. My brother has a bump on the top of his head, scrapes across his palms, three smaller bruises close to his shoulder blades, and I think his left arm might be mildly paralyzed from all the scrapes and impact. Oh, he's also limping on a bruised ankle and has a swollen cheek."

"And this happened why…?" Nezu asked again, a bit calmer this time, though still irate and probably more than a bit suspicious.

"We… ran into Hibari-san," he answered, twiddling his thumbs with embarrassment. "He threw us in the nurse's office because he didn't want us leaving corpses around… or something like that."

Nezu let out a deeply exhausted sigh. "Very well," he answered after a few moments pause. "Just… just go sit down. Don't think this is getting you out of your test grade. Which, may I add, _severely_ lowered this entire class's average score…"

…

"Tsunayoshi-kun!"

The one in question turned when he heard his name called, to see a familiar head of indigo hair approaching, gathered in a unique "pineapple" style. "Mukuro!" he replied, stopping. "What is it?"

Mukuro stopped a pace or two away from the shorter brunet, and smiled. "Actually, I was wondering if you were free this weekend," he said.

Tsunayoshi blinked. "What for?"

"Well," the other began, twiddling with the hem of his shirt sleeve. "It'll be Nagi's birthday in a little more than a month, and I'm still not sure at all what I want to get her."

The brunet rested his chin in his palm and thought. "This early?" he asked, "I know her birthday is December 5th, and it's still late October now." Nagi was Mukuro's little sister. They were a year and a half apart, and so he was a third year above Tsunayoshi, whereas she was a first-year beneath. As far as Tsunayoshi knew, there seemed to be some sort of right eye problem that ran in the Rokudo family genes; Mukuro had complete heterochromia iridis, having a cobalt-blue left eye and a red-brown right. Nagi, on the other hand, had a weak right eye, and sometimes wore an eyepatch to school when it became a bother, so that only one brilliant violet orb would be seen. (Their father had partial heterochromia in his right eye, with the inside being dark brown with the outer edge blue.)

"Well the thing is, late November and early December is a time when all the stores are really packed and busy, so I try to get her presents in advance so that I don't have to worry about that," he explained. "And I'm not sure what to get her, because whenever I ask she says that anything I get her is wonderful. She says the same thing when I get Ken or Chikusa to ask, too."

Tsunayoshi nodded. That made sense: Ken Joshima and Chikusa Kakimoto were two boys who lived with the Rokudos, having been adopted at a young age. In fact, Chikusa's birthday had been just two days ago (he remembered this because he and Tsuna had helped Nagi to find him a good present; they did these sorts of favors for a lot of their friends, since everyone seemed to have it in their heads that the two were good at understanding people and their preferences/personalities). Of course she would answer just the same to them as she did with Mukuro; he knew that she thought of them as family even if they weren't always nice to her for being a quiet, shy girl. "Well, I think I'm free on Saturday," he replied. "We can meet at your house and go to the Shopping Center. What time works for you?"

"Hmm, how about… around 10?" the taller boy replied. "I think Nagi said she was invited on an excursion with Kyoko Sasagawa and Haru Miura that day, so that should work fine," he answered. Catching the confused look, he chuckled and clarified his statement. "Kufufu, an excursion is an outing or a day out, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Oh," Tsunayoshi replied, the corner of his mouth tugging upward a bit. "Sure, 10 o'clock should work fine. I'll see you later, then." Turning, he headed off to eat lunch, limping a bit on his bruised ankle.

…

Tsuna and Tsunayoshi and Gokudera and Yamamoto were sitting on the school's roof to eat their lunch, just as they did whenever the sun was out. When Tsunayoshi arrived, Gokudera quickly stood up and moved to make room for him. "Tenth, Decimo, are you alright?" he asked worriedly. He'd already been mothering over Tsuna's physical condition during both 10 minute breaks between first, second, and third periods, which he hadn't been able to do with Tsunayoshi because the latter was in class 2-B with Ken and Chikusa, not 2-A with Tsuna and Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"I'm fine," Tsunayoshi insisted, waving the silver-haired boy off. "Though I think I'm in worse condition than Tsuna." He chuckled a bit, opening his lunchbox to begin eating. "Hibari always goes easier on you than on me, doesn't he?"

"Well you fight back, for one thing," his brother mumbled back around a mouthful of fried chicken. "And then you're better friends with Mukuro. He just picks on me. And you know how much Hibari-san hates him. Stands to reason he might not like you very much."

"Well, I'll ask Mukuro not to pick on you, then," the elder twin offered helpfully, shrugging. "I'm sure he'll listen if I ask politely."

"Or… I could blow them both to the ends of the earth," Gokudera offered, less helpfully. "It would do the rest of the world a bit of good, too."

Yamamoto laughed loudly, clapping Gokudera on the back. "I don't think it'd do _them_ any good!" he chortled, "And I don't think it'd stop them from fighting, either. They'd probably keep going at it in heaven."

"Shut up, baseball idiot," Gokudera snapped at the laughing teen. "No one asked you!"

…

"Sawada-san! Please wait a moment!"

Both Sawadas turned just before they were to leave the school gate. As they stopped, a rather tall man with a large regent-style haircut came running up. "I found this in the hallway," he said, holding out a language textbook. "I believe this is yours, Ietsuna Sawada-san."

"Oh, thanks, Kusakabe-san!" Tsuna said cheerfully, taking the proffered item. "Haha, thanks for finding it; I got in trouble during language arts because I didn't have it."

"No problem," Tetsuya Kusakabe replied, giving a small smile. He was a very tall man at 181cm, with broad shoulders and a grass stalk always between his teeth. He was also Hibari's second-in-command as the Disciplinary Committee Vice Chairman.

Tsunayoshi tilted his head even farther up than usual to see the top of Kusakabe's head. "I can't believe you used to be in our elementary school classes," he deadpanned.

Kusakabe laughed. "Nor that you two are almost a month older than I am," he replied.

…

"Sorry for intruding!"

"Please excuse us!"

Ieyasu poked his head out from the kitchen door and smiled at the five children. "Welcome home, Tsuna, Tsunayoshi, Natsu," he greeted his own kin. "And Takeshi, Hayato, Don't worry about the formalities, come in have have a seat. We were just making food."

As Tsuna helped Natsu get his shoes off, Tsunayoshi blinked and asked, "We?"

Instead of answering the question, the father simply chose to escape back into the living room/kitchen area. Sighing, Tsuna smiled and picked up the five-year old. "Apparently dad doesn't want to answer, Tsunayoshi," he laughed. "Guess we'd just better find out for ourselves."

They all headed through the door, lead (or rather, directed) by Natsu who excitedly jumped up and down in his brother's arms. When they entered, all five gasped.

"Yo, kids," a man with red hair parted in the center and sitting on one of the couches greeted them. He had a rather peculiar fire-like tattoo on the right side of his face, and a cigarette dangled from his mouth. Next to the red-haired man sat a taller man with well-combed black hair pulled back into a long ponytail, smiling and waving at them. On another couch, another black-haired man, but this time with the hairstyle short and messy, sat with a child on either side of him. One was Kyoko, a girl in Tsuna's class who both twins had a crush on, and the other was Ryohei, her fiery, extreme older brother. The man, Knuckle, appeared to be reading them a book of some sort that they looked at with curiosity.

At the table, two more men sat, one with white-blond hair and the other a rather teal color. They appeared to be having a heated debate in some language that sounded vaguely northern European, though it could have been Swahili or even Martian for all the three Sawada sons knew (if anything, they seemed to keep jumping around between languages). On the other end of the table, Mukuro and Hibari sat having an even more heated game of Speed; both moved with a blurring ferocity, yet they hardly glanced at the cards, instead staring intently at the other as though the real objective was a staring contest with distractions. Chrome sat next to her brother, watching quietly.

"Dad!" Gokudera and Yamamoto both said in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Gokudera quickly followed with an irate (and rather childish) shout not to copy him, and Yamamoto just laughed.

"Okay, so maybe not _we_," Ieyasu called, pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. "but you get the point."

At that moment, a loud slapping was heard, immediately followed by the sounds of two chairs falling over. "Kufufu, I believe this is a tie," Mukuro chuckled, and Hibari growled back.

"Again," the latter snarled, and the younger of the two complied.

Another loud slapping and chair falling was heard as the two grown adults on the other end of the table did the same thing as their children. "I'm right and you know it, Daemon Spade," the blond man snarled in Japanese, pounding his fist on the table again. "For one thing, you know very well that Wikipedia is _not_ a legitimate source of information."

"Nufufu, there's a first time for everything, Alaude," Daemon replied, "And I'm sure this isn't your first time being wrong."

"You two need to shut up and speak Japanese like the rest of us," G, the red-haired man, yelled from across the room (and apparently not realizing the contradiction in his statement). Daemon shrugged and chuckled again, whereas Alaude shot the intruder a glare that could very well have killed someone.

The owner of the house chose that moment to set a plate of hot biscuits on the table. "Hey, get along, you two," he chided the two older men. "Look at Kyouya and Mukuro; at least they're playing nicely."

The five children at the door watched the mentioned two, and Tsuna thought with a bit of dread, _That looks anything __**but**__ nice… that poor table._ Shaking his head of the thought, he walked to the table and sat next to Hibari, plopping Natsu down on his other side, closer to Alaude. "Thanks, dad!" he said, taking a cookie. Blowing lightly on it, he handed it to Natsu before taking one for himself.

This he nearly dropped when the older boy beside him jumped up and slammed his hands on the table again, causing him to juggle the still-hot treat in his hands. "I win," Hibari smirked, and Mukuro relented, scooting over so that Tsunayoshi could sit at the end of the table between him and his opponent. They sat down again, before both pairs of eyes wandered over to the plate of cookies on the table. Tsuna opened his mouth and was about to ask if he should pass the plate, when Hibari held up his hands. "Temporary truce," he said, before grabbing a cookie.

"Agreed," the other chuckled, taking two and passing one to Tsunayoshi, who accepted it and thanked him. Chrome was already happily eating one.

"Hey, why don't we all play Old Maid?" Tsuna asked, brightening up at his own smart suggestion.

Mukuro chuckled and smiled. "I don't see why not," he replied. "In fact, it sounds like a wonderful idea. Unless, of course, Hibari-kun is afraid of _losing_ a-"

Hibari all but threw the deck of cards he had been packing away at Mukuro's face, who was hit squarely in the nose with the box. "Say anything like that again and I'll _kill_ you," the raven-haired boy growled, before turning to Tsuna. "Pass me another one of those cookies, they're good." The brunet complied, and Mukuro was about to start dealing when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Tsuna called, standing up. As he did so, Alaude and Daemon stood up to move their argument to the couches, and Yamamoto and Gokudera took the empty space. Tsuna nearly slid down the hallway in his haste, and ended up crashing into the door anyway. Opening it, he rubbed his nose ruefully and blinked at the guest. "Oh, hello, Lampo," he smiled, checking his hand to make sure there was no nosebleed. "And Lambo, I-Pin."

"Hi, Tsuna-kun," the green-haired teenager greeted. He was a little bit taller than the brunet, with light green hair and child holding onto each of his hands. He, too, was a grade above Tsuna, being classmates with Reborn and Fong and a few of their friends in 3-C. "Lambo was saying that he wanted to come over, so it's alright if I come over too, right? I-Pin and Fong are staying at our house this week while their parents are out."

Tsuna laughed. Lampo had a strange way of talking, in which his word choice gave the impression that he was very full of himself, but his personality was often timid in the presence of danger. "Of course it's alright, Lampo," he said, opening the door. "We have company over, so I'm sure three more won't make a difference."

As they made their way back into the living room, Natsu jumped down from his spot and ran over to his two friends. "I-Pin! Lambo!" he shouted cheerfully, "Let's play!"

As the three rushed over to the living room, getting in the adults' way, Tsuna offered to look after them so that Lampo could go play Old Maid with everyone else. However, the latter only waved him away and sighed. "It's alright," he said tiredly. "I'm supposed to look after them. Man I hate kids." The last sentence was mumbled, but Tsuna caught it and smiled a bit before returning to the table.

Turning, he would've dropped something had he been holding anything. Staring with a mixture of horror and shock at Mukuro, the heterochromatic boy looked back with curiosity. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, scrunching his eyebrows in thought.

_Mukuro! Nosebleed! Nosebleed!_

Sitting back down, he tugged on Hibari's jacket to whisper something into the older boy's ear (Gokudera scowled a bit, but didn't question it). "Hibari-san, should I tell him that there's blood all over half his face…?"

Pulling away, Hibari shook his head and smirked in amusement. "No, don't. I'd like to see how long it takes him. And if it ends in death due to blood loss, well, good news for me."

Tsuna nodded slowly, before wondering why no one else had told him. Gokudera couldn't have cared less about Mukuro's well-being, so that was out. Yamamoto probably hadn't noticed, being unable to read the atmosphere. Chrome seemed to be debating with herself whether to speak up or not. And Tsunayoshi… well… Tsuna wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking at that moment. Shaking his head, he took another cookie. "No, nothing's wrong, Mukuro. I just thought I saw something. Deal, please?"

Mukuro nodded, albeit a bit skeptically, but smiled and began passing out the cards anyway. Soon all seven were engaged in the game, taking many breaks to insult each other or take some more snacks. The father came by with a platter of drinks at one point, and they kept going.

At one point, there was a great roaring noise from the adults (and six children), whereupon all seven at the table turned around to look at the parents they had left alone for the past hour and a half or so. They were all laughing and talking, and seemed to be having a blast. (Well, maybe not Alaude. But he seemed to be having as much fun as was physically possible for him.) Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Tsunayoshi turned to see Lampo standing there. "Tsunayoshi," the green-haired boy drawled lazily, "I've been meaning to ask you, but I never quite understood what all your fathers do for a living. I mean, I know they work together and are well-paid, but I don't understand exactly."

"Um… It's sort of like… well… they do… er…" trailing off, the brunet turned to look around the table in a silent plea for assistance.

Tsuna fidgeted nervously. "Uh, well… it has to do with… um…"

The table fell silent and still as each person (or rather, the ones who cared about the topic of conversation) mulled over how best to answer.

Chrome was the first to pipe up. "Actually, they all work part time for the Ya-"

"-The Yamamotos!" Tsuna blurted/spluttered. "It's not on a regular schedule or anything, just sometimes. And they all have regular jobs too; that's the one that they're all together on. But that one's… secret."

A slightly confused Lamp nodded slowly, before a quick-thinking Yamamoto offered the three little kids more cookies from the most recent batch. "Haha, eat up, alright?" he told them. "And someday you'll be big and do your own great things!" Tsuna gave a sigh of relief; the situation had been salvaged. He'd been lucky to be able to blurt in like that; it was uncommon for him to think well on his feet. Nevertheless, he was slightly amused by his own ingenuity. It was true, all 6 of the fathers occasionally worked at Yamamoto's family restaurant, Takesushi, with the boy's father and uncle (he looked much more like his uncle, but was almost his father reincarnate in personality). Even some of the kids had had the odd days of part-time working there when they needed the allowance; it was sort of like an unenforced tradition in this strange web of relationships that mixed family and friendship together.

"Natsu-!" Lambo whined. "Come on, let's play!"

The five-year old "lion" nodded and chased, then paused. "What about I-Pin?" he asked.

Lambo merely waved a finger and made a light "tsk-tsk" noise. "My, my, Natsu doesn't know anything," he smiled rather mischievously. "Don't worry about I-Pin, she's being a steaming red pepper anyway." At this, Natsu huffed and followed his friend, Lampo trailing behind his brother and said brother's friend.

Tsuna blinked and turned to look at Gokudera. "Steaming red pepper?" he repeated, confused.

Gokudera shrugged. "I don't know either, Tenth," he admitted. "But since this is the idiot cow we're talking about, it probably means nothing."

Tsuna nodded. Yes, it probably meant nothing, since it was Lambo who'd said it. Feeling a tugging on his sleeve, he looked down to see I-Pin being, well, a steaming red pepper, hiding behind his chair and blushing a brilliant shade of red. Picking her up, he sighed; Natsu had always been able to understand others' strange descriptions without batting an eyelid. He, as the older brother, didn't have that kind of ability. Perhaps it was because Natsu usually had trouble explaining things too (once, he had been trying to describe a bird he had seen, and spent five minutes "flying" around the room and mimicking the chirps). But then again, Tsunayoshi couldn't either, but he had something too; Tsunayoshi was strange in that he always seemed to know when others were coming towards him (he was strangely perceptive when Mukuro or Hibari or both were in the vicinity). These made Tsuna jealous of his brothers sometimes, and he would tell them so. Then, they would tell him that he was more lucky: apparently the middle son had the intuition to know when others were lying or not telling the whole truth (said son didn't understand why that was a great thing, however).

"What's wrong, I-Pin?" he asked the small child now sitting on his lap. I-Pin was a peculiar child, being much more mature than Lambo (actually, most kids were, but that was irrelevant), but very shy and blushed often. Clinging to his shirt, she stretched upwards to whisper in his ear. "Who's that?"

He looked towards where she was pointing, only to see Hibari staring off into the distance behind Mukuro's head. (Or maybe he was trying to bore a hole through the annoyance's skull. He wasn't really sure.) "That's Hibari-san, I-Pin," he whispered back. "Why?"

Still blushing, she squinted at him (though one could hardly tell from her already very thin eyes), and whispered back, "Because he looks like Fong." Tsuna blinked. He looked at Hibari, then down to I-Pin again, then repeated several times. True; though he had never really dwelled on it, Hibari and Fong did look rather similar. They had the same thin eyes and pale, mature yet youthful face, framed by mid-length black hair that came down into a triangle in the center bangs. They could've been twins; differences were that Fong had a more calming presence and a long ponytail down his back, doing everything with a polite smile, whereas Hibari's aura radiated danger and commanded respect, with little facial expression beyond a mildly sadistic smirk. "I think he looks cool…"

Tsuna opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud and obnoxious five-year old voice. "Tsuna! I-Pin!" Lambo shouted, "C'mon let's play!" (Natsu seemed to be playing with Lampo at the moment.)

Tsunayoshi smiled and picked up the screaming child, hushing him. "Not now, Lambo," he said. "I-Pin's talking to Tsuna."

"Okay, then Lambo-san will be quiet!" he shout-whispered. "Because Lambo-san is a good k- gupyah!" He yelped the last word and clung onto Tsunayoshi's shirt front. When the latter asked what was wrong, he cling tighter and pointed a finger shakily at Mukuro. "M- Monster!" he wailed. "Lambo-san doesn't want to die! Tsuna–, save Lambo-san!"

Most everyone else burst out laughing as Mukuro gave the most amusing face any of them had ever seen; it was that of someone who would be offended, confused, indignant, and lost for words all at the same time. Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi and Tsuna would've done spit-takes had they been drinking anything (actually, Yamamoto barely escaped spraying Gokudera with orange juice). Gokudera had snorted loudly and smirked at the pineapple, and Hibari had an expression of pure, uncensored smugness and amusement without actually making any noise. Chrome politely hid her face behind her hand to hide the fact that she was laughing at her beloved elder brother.

"Th- that's not a monster, Lambo," Tsunayoshi managed to splutter out. "That's Mukuro."

"Why I never!" Mukuro huffed indignantly. "I should say very well that I'm not a monster. The nerve!"

"But there's blood all over his face!" Lambo kept wailing. "He must've eaten someone!" Even Gokudera laughed this time, pounding a fist on the table and burying his face in his arm. (Hibari gave an almost inaudible "pfft" sound.)

Mukuro smiled, a nerve twitching near his temple. "I'll have you know that I've never eaten a person in my life," he continued. "I imagine that they taste quiet horrible; just think of all those impurities that humans have floating around in their systems."

…

It was around 8 in the evening when the next knock on the door came. "I'll get it!" Giotto called, and a half-asleep Natsu clung onto his shirt front as he stood up with the child in the crook of his arm. Lambo and I-Pin were in similar states. The former was curled up in the midst of various plastic candy wrappers and paper napkins, tucked in the corner between one side of a couch and the floor; a large snore came from the fast asleep form before he snuffled, shifted a bit and fell quiet again. I-Pin leaned against him, yawning quietly and blinking as though to stay awake. Opening the door, he blinked at the person on the steps. "Oh, hello, Luce," he smiled, bowing respectfully to the older woman. "And your daughter and grandchildren as well, what a surprise."

Luce, the grandmother, laughed quietly and nodded in reply. "Good evening, Giotto," she greeted. She, too, smiled, though hers was much more small, but no less beaming. "Say hello Reborn, Uni."

"Good evening mister Sawada," the two children chorused. Uni looked much like a shrunken version of her grandmother, with blue-black hair in a neat bob cut and long ponytail, dressed in a slightly puffy white dress and light gray bolero. She was 10, a fifth grader. Her 'brother' (though they had no blood relation; Reborn was an adopted child), was five years older, in the grade above Tsuna's. He was dressed as a near polar opposite of his sister; black suit and tie with orange-yellow dress shirt and matching fedora. The two children's mother, Aria, was taller than the grandmother, dressed in black pants and a red dress shirt.

"Formal as always," Giotto smiled, nodding back at the children. Aria had been Giotto's friend in their younger years back in the suburbs of Italy. From there, he had met Luce, a kind woman with a background in the upper echelon of society. Luce's family was very traditional in many ways. They all had a tendency to dress rather formally no matter what the occasion, and spoke with a polite distance. "Why don't you come in?" he asked, holding the door open wider.

Aria shook her head. "Sorry, we're on our way somewhere," she declined. "Just stopped by to say hello. Oh, and you might want to get them to keep it down a bit; it's getting late so your party may turn into a neighborhood disturbance."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Giotto said.

Or rather, attempted to say, and was instead interrupted after "talk-" by a large crashing sound, followed by grunts and shouts that sounded rather like Hibari stomping Mukuro's face into the ground and Tsuna/Tsunayoshi/Chrome trying to dissuade him, then Yamamoto laughing and Gokudera shouting. "Scratch that," the blond sighed. "I have a very good idea of what you're talking about."

"Alright, we'll be going, then," Luce said as she turned to leave, waving. "Come on, Uni."

Giotto nodded before closing the door. Reborn stood staring at the entrance for a few moments, listening to the sounds of his classmates' ruckus. Suddenly a loud banging was heard and silence descended, and he smirked. "Reborn?" his mother called. "We're going, come along."

"Yes mother," he replied, then trotted after his family, turning once to look back at the house.

Many neighbors of the Sawada family were of the opinion that they were a very smoothly-run group. Many others, however, always had moments of humor when they thought about just how oversimplified that opinion was.

* * *

_Thank you for reading another chapter! (Even if it was a huge omake!) I'm currently wondering whether I should do a third chapter or not, which would probably be about how the Hibaris spend their nights… but I'm not so sure if I'd be up to it. A- anyway, thank you very much! (Without MAW I had a bit of a tough time self-proofreading, but I hope I did alright…!) This seems like it might be taking place in the same universe as the "7DaysWar"/"Two's Company, Three's a Crowd" story I wrote… except I haven't finished that yet (even though it was begun much earlier), and I'm still trying to decide between the two titles…_

_Anyway, thank you again! (I like this Natsu-kun. I drew him and he seems like a cute kid.)  
_


	4. Sleeping is Very Low Priority

_I think that, while writing these, I start completely losing track of what I may be doing. Oh well, this is the last one, so I tried to make it good! But even so, because I stop thinking about what I'm doing, I don't want to go back and read over what I did..._

* * *

"Yes, mom, I'm staying the night. No, this probably won't become a regular thing. You don't have to bring me a set of clothes! I'll just change when I get home tomorrow! Yes, I know that tomorrow is saturday. Um, I don't think we're hanging out tomorrow? It seems unlikely. Okay. Yes, I'll try to have fun. Good night, mom. What- no, don't come to pick me up; I can walk home myself! I'm ten, mom! A fourth-grader! _Ye_- I mean no. Really. No I will not get lost. No, I will not be staying up late. _Good night, mom_."

Setting the phone receiver back down, Tsuna sighed. Honestly, his mother could be a bit _too_ enthusiastic sometimes. Maybe just a little. Although he had to admit, she had a point in that him staying at a friend's home was a first... but still. And all of this was because of a certain set of persons, two of whom just happened to be–

"_Get back here and let me bite you!"_

He winced, hearing something crash in another area of the house. Fighting. _Again_.

"_Not a cha- whoops, there goes another vase. Tut tut, Kyouya, I'll have to tell those two that you're throwing a tantrum again."_

"_Graaagh!"_

Ah, brotherly love. Nothing like it.

Wincing again when he heard the loud and unmistakable _thud_ that marked someone being thrown into a wall (he would never forget the sound of that poor boy in his class when Kyouya-san got to him), he turned towards the adults in the room. "Are they going to be alright?" he asked uncertainly, looking first at the blond man reading a newspaper on the sofa, then to the black-haired man elegantly arranging a flower vase on the floor in front of the first.

"They won't be if they leave another dent in the training room wall," Alaude, the "father" of the household, spoke up, eyes never leaving the print in front of him.

"Shall I go stop them before they do?" Fong (the "mother") asked, standing up and flicking his long braid over his shoulder.

Alaude shrugged. "Do what you want." Silent as a breeze, Fong disappeared through the living room door. "So, are you done?" the blond man asked after a short pause, gray-blue eyes momentarily flicking upwards to stare at the brunet. "Tsunayoshi Sawada."

"What? Oh, yes," Tsuna answered, momentarily blanking. "My mother said it was alright if I stayed over."

"Good."

Silence descended for a moment, as Tsuna contemplated what he should do.

He was, however, interrupted when the door burst back open and Kyouya, the second son, ran in, and trip-hopped ungracefully for three paces before pulling himself up proudly. "Ha! I win; you have to scrub the toilet next week!" The sentence clashed severely with his maturity and sadistically smug expression.

Kyo, the first son, leapt in, skidding for a moment on his socks before drawing his full height above his (much) younger brother. "Well at least I didn't run from a battle, _Kyouya_," he glowered. "As soon as he came in you turned tail and fled."

This time it was Kyouya's turn to growl. Tsuna could practically see sparks flying between the two, storm clouds gathering. "I _do not_ retreat," he ground out, glaring. "Would you like to _repeat_ that sentence?"

However they were both silenced when Kyo was smacked on the right temple with a firm palm and Kyouya's left wrist was snagged by a flying handcuff. The two brothers were yanked away from each other (rather violently), and Tsuna was once again left bewildered. Mentally, he began writing a journal.

_Hello, my name is Tsuna. I'm ten years old, and I attend the fourth grade at Namimori Elementary School. I am, right now, being __graciously invited__ (read: forced) to stay at the home of one of my upperclassmen, Kyouya Hibari, and his family. Apparently I may have contracted some sort of virus __from the scent of a pork bun that may eventually render me immobile, and thus must get treatment before that happens. I don't know why they can't just give it to me now so I can go home. I think I may be in greater danger of being accidentally killed in this house._

Awkwardly, he edged closer to the coffee table. Alaude was back to reading his paper, though this time he was handcuffed to a rather disgruntled Kyouya who sat next to him on the sofa. Tsuna had a brief thought that he was probably one of the only four human beings to have ever witnessed the feared sixth-grader make such a face.

Kyo was passed out on the floor. Wonderful. Fong was sitting at the table and painting, acting as though he hadn't just knocked out his first son and left him on the floor like an article of used clothing.

"Um... if I may be so rude as to ask, is this a normal occurrence?" he asked nervously, working up the courage.

"What?" the other three occupants of the room asked simultaneously. (The only three that mattered at the moment, anyway.)

"All... this." Feeling even more awkward, Tsuna gestured his hands around the room, looking mostly at the unconscious Kyo and the silver chain that linked father and son together.

Alaude was the first to figure it out. "No, it's not," the former policeman replied. Fong chuckled good-naturedly. Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief.

"They're behaving well today."

… and sucked it right back in.

_I am going to be stuck in a house of madness for the rest of today and tomorrow morning._

That night, they dined in hell.

Well, not quite, but there were four demons there and the level of hostility in the air was effectively the same. Fong had started cooking as soon as he finished his painting (a rather cute monkey), and when Kyo had finally woken up, he was really woken up when Kyouya threw a sofa cushion in his face (Alaude had already released him awhile earlier). Tsuna had been left sitting straight-backed next to the blond man as both were scolded and sentenced to help set the table by their mother.

He had never seen a Hibari-san like this before. It was strange to see him behave so childishly.

Eventually he did homework just to take his mind of things. (Which turned out to be a terrible idea; when Alaude saw his work, the demonic tutoring began.)

Once they were all seated around the table, the two siblings pointedly ignoring each other, the whole room was engulfed in a thick silence interrupted only by the ticking of the wall clock in the adjoined living room. He was about to ask why no one was eating when the wall clock again interrupted.

Seven chimes.

The other four all spoke a rushed "thank you for the meal," before digging in. Once everyone else had taken what they wanted, the remainder was pushed in their guest's general direction. Kyouya and Kyo had their eyes locked on each other, turning the mere act of _eating_ into a competition (of what kind, however, Tsuna couldn't tell; if anything they seemed to keep switching the rules). Fong was eating civilly (after all, he _was_ a very relaxed person), and Alaude, too, was eating normally.

Three times he had spent time with this family; first, that one fateful morning that he, surprisingly, did not completely regret. Second, earlier today, around noon, when they'd been warring on the school's grounds. And right now. It made him realize that each time was more strange than the last, which brought him to the thought that, perhaps the closest the Hibari family would ever get to being _normal_ was early in the morning.

Which really wasn't very normal at all, but for the purposes of making himself feel better…

_Anyway_, to distract himself he began eating the fried rice that had been heaped generously on his plate, adding some of the vegetables to the very edge of the plate where they would fit.

"Thank you for the meal!" Kyo said loudly, standing up. (Tsuna squeaked in surprise, having barely even _started_ his own meal.) He carried his dishes _carefully_ to the kitchen, placed them _gently_ in the sink... and then ran out the door and up the stairs. Momentarily, he came back down with a bag in hand and a black jacket on. "I'm going out!"

"Be back before 12 this time!" Fong called after him. The front door slammed shut. If one listened carefully, they could hear the sound of a motorcycle driving away.

After a few moments of silence, the brunet spoke up. "He stays out until midnight?" he asked, surprised. He would have assumed that a family as regimental as this one would treasure their sleep.

"Often," Alaude replied. "Though what Fong meant was noon."

Tsuna practically fell out of his chair and face-floored. The statement would've been comical. _Would've_, if this had been some sort of entertaining story and not real life.

So he just gave up and ate his food. "Oh, I forgot!" Fong said, getting up and leaving for the kitchen. Returning, he came back with a cup of tea. "Here, drink this," he said, handing it to Tsuna.

"Why?"

"Medicine."

"... Oh."

_Right, forget the very reason that you abducted me,_ Tsuna thought miserably, taking a tentative sip. It was very aromatic. At least it went well with the food.

The rest of the meal passed in relative comfort. Fong moved over one chair so that he was seated across from Tsuna, leaving a space between himself and Alaude. "So, are you enjoying yourself at school, Sawada-san?" he asked, trying to make light meal banter.

"Not... really...?" the brunet replied, a spoonful of fried rice suspended halfway to his mouth.

"And why is that?"

He shrugged, replying honestly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm stupid, clumsy and can't do anything right. There's no reason for anyone to want to be friends with me, but there's a lot of reasons people would pick on me."

"Well that simply won't do," Fong said, frowning. "Kyouya, you should bring Sawada-san by more often. He's very well-mannered and kind-hearted. I don't understand why you don't like him."

"Because he's weak and reliant," the hostile reply came. Tsuna scooted his chair over a few centimeters, which was as far as he could go before bumping against the table leg. "I am not a babysitter."

"Well at least look out for the poor boy," Fong retaliated, pouring himself another cup of tea.

Kyouya frowned. "I am _not_ going to interrupt my schedule just to look over-"

"Do as Fong says, Kyouya."

"Alaude, please stop reading at the table."

"Don't tell me what to do."

_But in the end, he's probably going to listen to what they say_, Tsuna thought, watching their interaction. It was strange, really. If he had been normal friends with Hibari (or anything along those lines), and he had been told that Kyouya was the weakest of his family, then he wouldn't have believed it. But in a situation like this, he had no choice but to believe it.

"Y- you don't h- have to if you don't w- want to, Kyouya-san," the brunet stuttered. He didn't want Kyouya-san to have to do something he didn't want to do, after all; that would simply be rude. And as reassuring it would be to have such a strong ally, he didn't think they'd get along as friends like this.

On the contrary, he didn't realize that what he had said would flip the switch on Kyouya's 'never accept offers of assistance' light. "No, I'll do it," he replied immediately, making Tsuna squeak. "But don't expect me to baby you."

Fong tried to reassure the younger boy. "Don't worry," he said with a smile. "Kyouya's actually quite kind-hearted."

_No. Just... no. Please, Fong-san, don't make him do this; I swear he's going to kill me just to be rid of the extra baggage or something. Wait wait wait Alaude-san don't turn a blind eye and please do something! Save me!_

But in the end, Tsuna's silent pleas went unheard (or ignored) by both adults, and he and Kyouya were doomed to be chained together as each other's only ally for quite some time.

But he wasn't to know that at the time.

Anyway, back to what was going on at the moment. Having finally managed to finish his food (or however much he could stomach of it), Tsuna found himself simply sitting there, trying not to move excessively lest he accidentally incite someone's wrath. He was quickly learning that one could never be too careful when interacting with the Hibari family. Counter-intuitively, one also had to be open-minded. Either way, things were just downright strange to someone as normal as Tsunayoshi Sawada.

Kyouya was the first to stand up, dishes in hand. "Tsunayoshi Sawada, follow," he said. Not a request, no, but not quite a command, either. Just... a statement. Tsuna thought for a moment. Had the infamous Kyouya Hibari always spoken this way, or was it only now that he had seen another side that Tsuna noticed it? Hibari was not the ruthless demon he was always portrayed to be, he was a human. Much more apathetic than the average human, certainly, but he was not a boy made purely of violence, but rather a straightforward boy who was confident in his own actions.

"Hey, could you hurry up?"

With a squeak, Tsuna piled up his dishes and sprang up to follow Kyouya to the kitchen... before promptly tripping over his own foot. As he fell, time seemed to slow down, and he closed his eyes in anticipation for the impending reunion with the hardwood floor and subsequent crashes of broken or bouncing platters. Loser Tsuna struck again.

Instead, though, he didn't fall too much before knocking into something. The sounds, too, never came.

"Must I teach you how to _walk_, or do you think you can at least do that by yourself?"

With another squeak, Tsuna quickly pulled himself up. Kyouya ignored the insists that the brunet could carry his own dishes, and he simply continued on to the kitchen, ignoring. His own dishes in his right hand, those that he had caught out of the air in his left.

As the two boys left, Fong turned to Alaude with a smile. "They're getting along well, aren't they?"

The blond hummed in response. "They balance each other out," he replied, flipping to the next page in his novel.

When Tsuna and Kyouya returned to the table, Fong was clearing up, while Alaude was petting a small yellow bird. "Alaude-san, is that your bird?" the brunet asked. "He's very cute. What's his name?"

"He hasn't got one," the man replied, as the bird rubbed its head against his finger, much as a cat would. "He followed Kyouya home one day."

"And he just stayed?" Tsuna asked, a little bit incredulous. Having already clearly seen the violence in the family, it was a bit difficult to see the gentleness. Although, now that he thought about it, Kyouya-san had been gentle with Barinezumi's clumsiness the first morning. (Actually, it wasn't quite gentleness as it was injury under-reaction.)

Fong nodded. "The hedgehogs as well," he said. "Except that Barinezumi and Kyoushintai are Kyo's, not Kyouya's. And Roll was bought from a pet store. They each have two pets, I suppose. On a related note, Alaude and I also used to keep pets. Lichi, the monkey I had had as a child, passed away when I was around... eighteen? And Alaude's-"

"Irrelevant," the blond man cut in, apparently dissatisfied with having his personal history released.

It stood to reason, actually. For one thing, Fong had, earlier, mentioned that Alaude used to be "at the top of a secret intelligence agency in an undisclosed country that is most likely located in northern Europe." He had relinquished the title to join the most elite police force in Europe, formed by seven men from all over the continent (for the most part, anyway; one was apparently American, another Japanese). This team (collectively referred to as "Vongola -I-") was lead by a man named Giotto, from Italy's Carabinieri. Supposedly, Alaude joined "because of reasons... in order to attain a certain goal." After some nebulous incident that Alaude would not allow to be disclosed, he had moved to Japan and settled down as a common officer ("common" meaning that he was of no special rank, but still the top of his section), eventually retiring (probably to take up the raising of his children), though he still took it upon himself to manage delinquent citizens if the need arose. (Strange, then, that he apparently did not care to manage his own delinquent son(s).) All in all, it was a very... clouded tale that was missing many key details.

Tsuna had briefly wondered whether, perhaps, Kyouya looked up to his first father and aspired to be like him, hence his position within school.

Anyway, after digesting the information, Tsuna chose to ask a question that had been bother him for quite some time. "So why do Barinezumi and Kyoushintai have such strange names?" he asked.

"Kusakabe named them," Kyouya answered, sitting down, as the conversation was becoming long-winded. Tsuna followed suit.

Fong chuckled, answering the brunet's silent question. "Tetsuya Kusakabe is one of Kyo's subordinates at work," the Chinese (?) man said, twiddling with the end of his long braid. "It was originally a joke, but the names apparently stuck. Barinezumi is... rather obvious, but apparently Kyoushintai kept curling up into what Kyo ended up calling a 'needle sphere,' so that became the basis of his name."

"Hibari! Hibari!" the bird chirruped, hopping over to Kyouya.

"That's too vague," he told him, apparently perfectly okay with speaking to animals. He seemed to do it often. "I won't know who you're talking to."

Looking up quizzically, the bird ruffled its feathers and chirped its master's surname again.

Tsuna thought for a moment. "Then shouldn't he be Hibird?" he asked. "Because he's Hibari-san's bird."

"That's a terrible name," Kyouya said, moving the bird up to his shoulder. Tsuna's face fell, and Kyouya smirked, turning to speak to the bird again. "Isn't that right... Hibird?"

Hibird chirruped happily. Tsuna smiled.

The brunet turned, vacantly staring through a wall. "I wonder when Kyo-san's coming back," he said absently.

"Who cares?" Kyouya retorted almost instantly. "He can go die."

_What a terrible thing to say about your own brother...!_

"Sawada-san is right," Fong pointed out. "You two should try to get along more." Kyouya's expression was confused, Tsuna's shocked.

_How does he-_

"It is a useful skill that one can pick up in various forms. In my case, it is a long-standing relationship with the study of the body, mind, and soul through martial arts. Alaude is also capable. Or rather, he would be, _if he would stop reading at the table and pay attention_."

Alaude scoffed. "Don't give me orders," he said, continuing with his novel.

Fong's smiled strained itself, a nerve in his cheek twitching. "Perhaps I should lace your coffee with a mixture of herbs to weaken the eyes tomorrow morning. Then you wouldn't be able to read anyway."

Gaining no response, he continued. "Oh, I'm sorry. Your 57-year old ears are probably useless; I'm surprised your eyes are not the same. Should I repeat myself?"

Alaude shut his book– _He didn't put in the bookmark. __He didn't put in the bookmark__,_ Tsuna thought–, before putting it down on the table. His eyes flashed, blue like chips of ice and just as cold as he locked gazes with Fong. "Last I checked, you were 12 years younger than me. How about you respect your elders?"

Tsuna trembled. And for good reason: for a split-second, his mind's eye had shown him a different version of the spectacle. Everything had been black, aside from three spots of color. There was a small, softly pulsating lavender to his right, a flickering smolder of the same color another space over, and across there had been the same kind of flickering in red. As Fong continued speaking, the hostility in his voice rising, he red flame had slowly fanned out, and then suddenly the flickering lavender had flared up like a signal.

With a small sigh, Kyouya stood up and gripped Tsuna by the arm, hoisting him up as well. Without a word, he steered the brunet out of the dining area, through the living room, and into the hallway. "It's safer," he said, in response to the questioning look he received.

"Oh? You seem to be asking me for a fight."

"_Gladly._"

There followed an animalistic roaring noise as someone lunged. Tsuna continued trembling, and Kyouya peeked through the glass window in the door. Something crashed. "At least Brother and I use the training room," he said, watching the spectacle for all the world as though it were a television program. Tsuna distinctly heard a whooshing noise, metal clacking together, and then further tussling. "They're making a mess."

Taking the still unresponsive Tsunayoshi by the arm again, Kyouya sighed and lead him up the stairs. "I'll lend you a set of pajamas; go take a bath upstairs. I'll take the downstairs bathroom."

Roughly thirty minutes later, Tsuna came out of the bathroom, wearing a set of Kyouya-san's black pajamas that were a little too large for him, a towel on top of his eternally messy brown hair. He was met by Kyouya casually leaning on the wall. "Apparently we're all sleeping downstairs," he said indifferently. Despite the tone, one look at the older boy's face told Tsuna that he was unhappy with the logistics of the herbivore's stay.

As they pattered down the stairs, a banging came from the front door. "Great, _he's_ home," Kyouya said, rubbing his temples. "Just what I need."

Tsuna made another note in his mental journal. _Though I had originally thought that Fong-san was probably the one putting up with the most troubles, I now think that it may be Kyouya-san. He's probably so tired of the chaos in his home that he beats down on it at school, where he can._

The two moved towards the front door, barefooted in their sleepwear. As Kyouya slid open the fog-glass main door, he kept the screen door shut. "You'e early today," he said, staring with boredom at his brother.

Kyo had just been walking an impressive black motorcycle into the shed. "Children should be asleep at this hour," he called back, closing the door behind him. "In any case, shouldn't you be doing homework?"

"B- but it's friday!" Tsuna pointed out with a small pout on his lips. Like all young boys, Tsuna Sawada detested homework. He would much prefer to laze about, playing video games with or without his adopted brothers.

Kyo scoffed. He walked in, making sure to shut both doors behind him. "You'll become a middle-school graduate with that kind of worth ethic," he said.

"No one cares about stuff like that," Kyouya said, his expression dead. Clearly, he was not interested in discussions about work. "Oh, by they way. We're all sleeping downstairs, and those two had a fight in the living room."

Kyo face-palmed. "Again?" he asked, putting his shoes away and heading down the hallway. The two children followed. "That's it. I'm going."

_I'm beginning to think that Kyo-san gets tired of dealing with his family every so often. Perhaps that is why he apparently stays out so incredibly late sometimes. He doesn't seem like someone who would enjoy drinking. (How old is he?)_

As Kyo went up the stairs, Kyouya and Tsuna turned around to go back to the big room. Tsuna remembered Alaude handing him a cat there. He briefly wondered what happened to her. What greeted them was the sight of Alaude and Fong peacefully laying out five futons. The stark contrast to their earlier hostility towards each other caught the brunet a little by surprise, but his escort was apparently used to it. "Twenty minutes," Alaude said.

Right when Tsuna was about to ask, "Twenty minutes for what?", Kyouya nodded, took the brunet by the shoulder, and frog-marched him back up to his own room.

"It's safer here," he said, closing the window after letting Hibird in.

_I actually think the safest course of action would be for me to just go home._

Kyouya plopped down into his chair with a tired sigh. "We have twenty minutes; is there something you want to do?"

"... Eh?" was the only response Tsuna managed to produce.

"We have twenty minutes to do whatever, so I'm asking if you want to do anything in particular," Kyouya repeated. "Read, do homework, play a game, whatever."

Tsuna's expression remained nonplussed. "... Is it really alright?" he asked, uncertainly. The nearly-inaudible growl that drew itself out of the older boy's throat gave him a very clear answer. '_I'm saying it's alright so just choose something already._' Thinking quick, Tsuna chose the first thing that came to mind. "D- do you have... a deck of cards? We could play speed... o- or something else if you want!"

"No, speed is fine," Kyouya said, turning to take a worn box out of a desk drawer. "Here."

Tsuna caught the box tossed to him, and began laying the cards out.

Twenty minutes and 13 lost matches later, Tsuna followed Kyouya back downstairs. (He was, however, proud that he had managed to win two or three.) Kyouya-san played really,_ really _fast, he had discovered.

That being said, when they entered the room, Tsuna's hands were really, really tired. "You two are over there," Alaude said, pointing to two futon in a corner, a little separated from where the others were.

"Oh, I heard that you're his caretaker now," Kyo noted, glancing at his brother before pulling his own futon a short distance away from Fong's and Alaude's.

"Not by my own choosing," Kyouya retorted. Kyo merely shrugged.

_It's not that I don't appreciate it, __but you really don't have to__!_

Tsuna had long since given up actually _voicing_ his thoughts. In any case, apparently Fong and Alaude would know anyway.

Once everyone was settled, Kyouya, who was closest to the switch, stood up. "Good night," he said, clicking it off. Tsuna snuggled into his futon in the few moments of blissful silence, and then...

Suddenly there was the sound of a gasp as someone was hit with something else. Almost immediately, the gasp changed into a small growl, as dull thuds began resonating around the room, accompanied by grunting. Tsuna recognized the sound as human hitting building.

In a flurry of rustling cloth, the light was once again clicked on, revealing a glowering Kyouya by the switch. On the other end of the room, Alaude and Fong were still rolling over each other, both with their hands around the other's neck. After a brief moment, Alaude gained the upper hand, managing to twist so that he was on top, crouched above Fong.

Kyo was watching in amusement.

Kyouya was bristling with rage. "Get a room!" he shouted, interrupting the pair's tussle. "There is a child here!"

"Don't you mean 'children'?" the eldest son retorted.

Tsuna wanted to point out that Kyouya had the maturity of someone twice his age. Then he decided that it was probably best not to get involved in such a family feud. Getting involved had been the reason he was here in the first place, after all. So, instead, he tried to hide underneath the covers.

After a thorough one-minute biting session of rants, the light was back off and the two youngest were trying to go to bed.

The three oldest apparently had other ideas.

_Crack._ "Ow ow ow! Stop! That hurts!"

_Click_. "Go to bed already!"

Lifting the sheet a bit, Tsuna poked his nose out so he could see a little, not unlike some small animal wary of predators. He was greeted by the sight of Fong happily bending his oldest son's legs much farther back behind him than could possibly be comfortable. Alaude was resting on his stomach, head in hand, watching. "What are you doing?" Kyouya asked, exasperated.

"I'm tense, so I can't sleep very well," Fong replied, going back to his own mattress.

The youngest son sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Good _night._" The light clicked off. Beside him, Tsuna heard the older boy sink into his mat with a mutter of "I'm tired..."

After a whole minute of silence, humorous and raucous snoring interrupted. Tsuna's eyes snapped open to the total darkness. "Kyo, you're loud," Alaude's voice said.

This time a demented chuckling filled the air.

Tsuna could just feel the annoyance radiating off of his friend (?). "Go to sleep..." the eleven-year old groaned. "Please, just _go to sleep._"

Instead, the laughter only increased, both in volume and intensity, before being culminated in a single, loud snort.

_Click_. "What are you _doing_?" Kyouya growled, picking up his pillow on the way to the other's mat.

"Stop waking us all up so often," Kyo replied, clearly holding back laughter. "You're making my insomnia worse, and I need to get a full night's rest."

"You're 21 already," Kyouya pointed out, smacking his older brother with a pillow. Fong, whose bedding was closest to Kyo's also smacked his eldest son with his own. "Just go to bed."

However, once the light was off, instead of going to bed, Kyo made another long snorting sound. This was followed by waves of laughter, getting louder and louder with each repetition. This time, as Kyouya crossed the room to go smack his brother with a pillow again, Fong flipped him over and Alaude gave him a light kick to the stomach. Tsuna was, unfortunately, beginning to get used to this. Even so, he was very tired, so he tried to bury his face into his pillow and the rest of him under the futon.

And thus, the entire house was finally able to re- "Ow ow ow ow ow! Alaude put me down! Ow!"

"Kyo, what are you doing!"

This time, it was Tsuna who leapt for the light switch. Alaude had Fong slung over his shoulders, pulled down on the legs and neck. Kyo had his brother by the ankles, swinging him lightly in a circle and laughing his head off.

Tsuna screamed in shock, running up to Kyo to try and get him to let go of Kyouya. Eventually, Alaude let Fong drop back onto his own futon, and Kyo relinquished his hold.

1 am, and the entire house was finally able to go to bed.

By 10, everyone was fed, clothed, and out the door if they needed to be. Kyo had gone to work, Fong and Alaude were staying home, and Kyouya was walking Tsuna back to the Sawada Residence.

They walked together in silence, Tsuna mulling over what he could say. "Um... Hibari-san," he said, speaking up. "Is this... always happening?"

Hibari sighed, rubbing his temples. "You have no idea."

The younger of the pair gave a wry smile. "I think I'd prefer to stay that way."

* * *

_A bit of an anti-climactic ending? No, it was just humor (probably)__!_

_Anyway, the main scene was based on the video meme "School Trip" (修学旅行). The original was a skit by V6; it's very amusing. I thought the Reborn version was especially funny!_

_Since I haven't written for "Family Problems" in a while, I was afraid that this came out... not so good. But I tried. I get ten points for trying, right? (No, you don't.) Anyway, thank you all for reading this far!_

_[Edit] Sunstar13 reminded me of something (unintentionally)! I was going to give you guys a nice present! Well, I suppose it's just as well; it is Christmas here now, after all. So hopefully I'm not too sappy? (What am I trying to say?)  
_

* * *

Reborn was _beyond_ livid.

He had been hired by his long-time associate, Timoteo, to tutor his grandson, Tsunayoshi. That had been a month ago. According to his reports, Tsunayoshi was a no-good child who was terrible in school and sports alike, sorely lacking in motivation and not very socially active.

_So why were none of his methods working._

Oh, it wasn't that Reborn had tried. The man had once been a member of the underworld of society, and his teaching style was Spartan. He was also a home tutor, which meant that he was housed in his students residence. And yet, though No-Good Tsuna, as his nick name was, was completely terrified of his tutor, it was as though he wouldn't learn anything from him except how to be snarky. Or rather, he _couldn't_.

"So, I told Gokudera-kun this yesterday, but I don't think-" Dodge. "-That I told you, Yamamoto. Anyway, I heard-" Dodge. "-There's an event going on in the shopping-" Dodge. "-Center, something about-" Dodge. "-plans for a new underground mall."

Yamamoto, the black-haired teen with whom Tsuna was speaking, laughed lightly. "That sounds pretty fun! Maybe we can all go tomorrow? Oh, Tsuna, is there something in your pants? You keep jump- whoops! Hey mister, I think you dropped this."

Yamamoto tossed the suspiciously dangerous-looking spiked baseball that he had caught back to Reborn, who was sitting a short distance away with a heavy scowl. He _was_ the baseball team's ace, after all. Reborn tossed it back. "Throw it at No-Good Tsuna," he growled. "I've been trying to get his attention for the past five minutes."

"You have?" Tsuna asked, his expression nonplussed and totally confused. He looked around and, indeed, the area surrounding the two 13-year old boys was _littered_ with similar projectiles, all looking potentially lethal but harmless at the moment. "Hiie! When did this happen?"

Back to Reborn being livid. "You mean to tell me," he growled, voice dripping with venom. "That you have been dodging _everything_ I've thrown at you for the past five minutes, with your back turned to me, _without even knowing it!_"

Tsuna shuffled his feet sheepishly. "A- Apparently...?"

Reborn sighed dejectedly. "They told me you were _terrible_ at sports," he said, his intense stare softening a little.

"W- well I am," Tsuna stuttered. "It's just that a couple years ago I was friends with-"

Out of nowhere, a rotating metal stick whirled through the air with a piercing whistle and nailed the boy right in the back of the head. He fell down with a yelp and a puff of dust. Reborn smirked.

Tsuna got up, rubbing his head. He saw the tonfa (lodged in the ground now), and looked behind him to hear two brothers arguing and metal clashing. With a scream, he ran off towards them, fists raised.

"Hibari-san!"


End file.
